1. Call of the Wild Review Chapters 1-7

2. PRIMORDIAL (Chapter 2)
From an earlier time; existing from the beginning
PRIM = first ORD = weave, row
Buck had been flung into the heart of things primordial. As he retrogresses, he feels like he is living during caveman times. The title of Chapter 1 is “Into the Primitive,” a cognate and synonym of primordial.

3. In the Southland, why is trouble brewing for every strong dog?
Men are rushing to the Northland to look for gold and they need strong dogs

4. What literary device is this?
Foreshadowing Buck’s kidnapping

5. Why does Jack London make Buck’s first owner a judge?
Judges interpret LAWS; epitomize “civilization” in the Southland

6. Who are Toots and Ysabel?
House dogs at Judge Miller’s place

7. What extended metaphor is used at the beginning of Chapter 1?
Buck is a king

8. How is Buck described at the beginning of Chapter 1 that shows he is a product of civilization?
Buck is a sated aristocrat; has the dignity that comes of good living and universal respect; is egotistical

9. Who are Elmo and Shep?
Buck’s parents

10. What is a tonic and health preserver for Buck?
Love of water

11. What year is Buck kidnapped?
1897

12. What is Manuel’s one besetting sin?
Chinese gambling

13. What is Manuel’s one besetting weakness?
Faith in a system

14. What emotion did Buck show when Manuel sold him?
Anger

15. What does Buck’s collar represent?
Civilization—it had to be forcefully removed from him

16. How did Buck view men on his journey North?
As tormentors

17. Why isn’t the man in the red sweater given a name?
He is a symbol of the potential in men to show primitive (brutal) behavior

18. What does the red in his sweater represent?
savagery, blood

19. How many times did Buck charge at the man in the red sweater?
Over a dozen

20. After the man in the red sweater, Buck was beaten but he was not _____.
broken

21. Buck was introduced to the reign of primitive law
Buck was introduced to the reign of primitive law. What is the Law of the Club?
A man with a club is a lawgiver, a master to be obeyed, though not necessarily to be made friends with….and

22. A single dog cannot win a fight against a man with a club in his hand
Buck was introduced to the reign of primitive law. What is the Law of the Club?
A single dog cannot win a fight against a man with a club in his hand

23. What does the club represent?
Power, brutality, man’s ability to use his brain to create weapons

24. What is Jack London saying about mankind as a whole?
We are weak animals, but we have intelligence to create weapons to dominate and protect us

25. Who is a French-Canadian, black-faced giant?
Francois

26. Who is a little weazened man who spat broken English?
Perrault

27. What do Perrault and Francois do for a living?
Carry dispatches for the Canadian government

28. Who is a good-natured Newfoundland?
Curly

29. Who had accompanied a Geological Survey into the Barrens?
Spitz

30. Who smiles in a treacherous sort of way?
Spitz

31. Who is a gloomy, morose fellow?
Dave

32. Who steals Buck’s food on the first night?
Spitz

33. What does Buck think of Perrault and Francois?
He thought that they were fair men, calm and impartial in giving justice, and wise in the way of dogs

34. Why does Buck feel ashamed on the deck of the Narwhal?
He had never been in snow before

35. What simile is used to describe Buck’s first day on the Dyea beach?
Like a nightmare

36. How does he describe the men and animals on Dyea beach?
Savages who knew no law but the law of club and fang

37. What is Buck’s vicarious experience?
Watching Curly’s death

38. VICARIOUS (Chapter 2) Serving instead of someone or something else
VIC = substitute
Buck watches vicariously as Curly approaches a strange dog and has her face ripped open. He did not have to experience the Law of the Fang himself to learn it.

39. How long did it take from the initial strike against Curly to clubbing her assailants from her?
Two minutes

40. ASSAILANTS (Chapter 2) One that attacks violently
AS- = on to SAIL = to jump
An assailant “jumps” out at you to attack. The dogs that Buck fights are his assailants.

41. Describe the Law of the Fang
Fight to the death
Wolf manner of fighting
Other dogs form a circle
Never go down, no fair play

42. Why does Buck hate Spitz after Curly’s death?
Spitz laughed at it

43. What is sorely hurt when Buck was placed in the harness the first time?
His dignity

44. Which dogs are brothers?
Billee and Joe

45. Who has an excessive good nature?
Billee

46. Who is sour, introspective, with a perpetual snarl and a malignant eye?
Joe

47. Who was known as The Angry One?
Sol-leks

48. Who was the incarnation of belligerent fear?
Joe

49. Who had a single eye that flashed a warning of prowess?
Sol-leks

50. Who slashed Buck’s shoulder three inches?
Sol-leks

51. Why did Buck flee ignominiously his first night?
He tried to sleep in the tent of the men

52. Why did Buck bound out of the snow his first morning?
He thought he was in a trap

53. Knowing how to do something without ever having done it before
What is genetic memory?
Knowing how to do something without ever having done it before

54. Who was the wheeler dog?
Dave

55. Which two dogs became alive and alert in the traces?
Dave and Sol-leks

56. How does Perrault honor Buck?
Checking his feet

57. What did Perrault pride himself on?
Knowledge of the ice

58. Why couldn’t Buck be a fastidious eater?
Other dogs would take his food

59. Who is a clever malingerer?
Pike

60. From which dog did Buck learn to steal?
Pike

61. What event marked Buck’s capacity to adapt?
Stealing bacon

62. Which law existed in the Southland?
Law of love and fellowship (respect private property and personal feelings

63. What is the “more fundamental and primitive code” that is beaten into Buck?
Civilized, he would die for his morals.
Decivilized, he has to abandon his morals to survive.

64. T or F: Buck stole for the joy of it.
False—he stole because he was hungry

65. RETROGRESSION (Chapter 2)
The act of moving backward
RETRO- = back, GRESS = to step
Buck retrogresses in Chapter 2, becoming more like his ancestors. It is as if he is “stepping back in time” and living the life that his ancestors lived. He now needs the skills they possessed to survive.

66. What is Buck’s most conspicuous trait?
To scent the wind and forecast the weather a night in advance

67. What does Spitz do to Buck at Lake Laberge?
Steals his nest

68. “…the unexpected happened, the thing that projected their struggle for supremacy far into the future…” is an example of what device?
foreshadowing

69. What event broke forth pandemonium in the camp?
Attack of the starving huskies

70. After the attack, which dog fled over the ice?
Billee

71. What did the starving huskies eat?
Sled lashings, canvas coverings, Perrault’s moose-hide moccasins, chunks of the leather whip and traces

72. Which dog goes mad?
Dolly

73. Nothing is said to daunt which character?
Perrault

74. In Spitz’s view, why was Buck an exception to the Southland dogs?
Buck adapted quickly and lived

75. In what four traits did Buck match Spitz?
Strength, savagery, cunning, and patience

76. What was the defiance of life, pitched in minor key, the half-sobs?
The huskies’ howls

77. What is the paradox of living?
To feel most alive, you have to forget everything around you

78. Chasing the snowshoe rabbit
When did Buck experience “the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, flying exultantly under the stars”?
Chasing the snowshoe rabbit

79. EXULTANTLY (Chapter 3) Done with great joy or triumph
EX- = out (S)ULT = to jump
Buck flies exultantly under the stars in the chase of the snowshoe rabbit. He was feeling so alive at that moment. Don’t confuse EXULT with EXALT. The root ALT means “top or high, so to exalt someone means to glorify them or raise them in high esteem.

80. How is this type of killing “infinitely more intimate” than the killing done by men?
Buck and animals must chase their prey and kill it with their mouths and claws, not simply point and shoot a weapon from afar. It is a more personal experience.

81. INFINITELY (Chapter 3) done in a way without end
IN- = not FIN = bounded
Buck’s hunting was infinitely more intimate, or personal, than man’s. The use of the word infinitely is hyperbole.

82. What quality did Buck possess that made for greatness?
imagination

83. Why was Buck inexorable?
To allow Spitz to live in the fight would be a sign of weakness

84. INEXORABLE (Chapter 3) Incapable of being persuaded; relentless
OR = to pray
Buck had to be inexorable when deciding whether to let Spitz live or not; mercy was reserved for “gentler climes” (the Southland).

85. As a leader, at what did Buck excel?
Giving the law and making his mates live up to it

86. What did Buck describe as “monotonous, machinelike regularity”?
Life with the Scotch half-breed and the mail train

87. What did Buck sometimes dream of?
Judge Miller’s place, swimming tank, Toots and Ysabel

88. What did Buck more often dream of?
Man in the red sweater, death of Curly, fight with Spitz, good things to eat

89. What were far more potent memories?
Memories of his heredity (genetic memory)

90. Was Buck homesick? No

91. Who is the hairy man?
Man’s ancestor

92. ANCESTORS (Chapter 4) One from whom a person is descended
AN- = before CEST = to go
Buck’s instincts are described as the “memory of his ancestors,” or genetic memory. An ancestor is one who has “gone before” you.

93. RESILIENCY (Chapter 4)
The ability of something to recover its size or shape after being compressed.
RE- = again SIL = to jump
Man’s ancestor is said to have a peculiar springiness, or resiliency, almost catlike as he climbs into trees and down. Like Buck on Dyea beach, he lived in perpetual fear.

94. He had internal injuries and they shot him
What happened to Dave?
He had internal injuries and they shot him

95. What hurt the dogs the most as the mail train entered Skagway?
Their feet

96. Who is a middle-aged, lightish-colored man, with weak and watery eyes?
Charles

97. Who is nineteen, with a revolver and knife?
Hal

98. What was the most salient thing about Hal?
His belt with cartridges

99. SALIENT (Chapter 5) Noticeable; something that stands out
SAL = to jump
If you notice something, it “jumps” out at you. Hal’s belt, with the knife, gun, and bullets, advertised his inexperience in the wild.

100. What did Hal’s belt advertise?
His callowness (inexperience)

101. Who kept up an unbroken chattering of remonstrance?
Mercedes

102. REMONSTRANCE (Chapter 5)
The act of pleading in protest or opposition
RE- = entirely monstr= to show
Mercedes, the Victorian woman, continually “fluttered” in the way of the men and kept up an “unbroken chattering of remonstrance and advice.” In essence, she complained and nagged the men constantly.

103. What did Mercedes not want to leave behind?
The tent

104. What advice did the townspeople give Hal, Charles, and Mercedes?
Get rid of ½ the load and get twice as many dogs

105. How did Mercedes deal with this solution to the sled?
She proceeded to cast out articles of the men if her own “necessaries” were to be removed.

106. PROCEEDING (Chapter 5) To go or move forward PRO- = forth CEED= to go
Only three words end in CEED: exceed, succeed, and proceed.

107. NECESSARIES (Chapter 5)
Essential items
NE- = not CESS = to go
Mercedes’ necessaries were the tent, dishes, canned goods, and other items that would weigh down the sled. Notice that the word necessary has ONE “C” because the root has one “C.” This prefix is a form of “neg” as in negative.

108. What were the six new dogs called?
The Outside dogs

109. What did Buck think of the new dogs?
Looked at them with disgust; could not teach them what to do

110. What did Hal trade his Colt revolver for?
Frozen horse hide

111. Which dog was the first to go under Hal, Charles, and Mercedes?
Dub (shoulder blade)

112. It was Mercedes’ custom to be _____
helpless

113. What was Mercedes’ essential sex-prerogative?
Making the lives of her men unendurable

114. PREROGATIVE (Chapter 5)
An exclusive or special right or privilege
PRE- = before ROG = to ask
Because she is a Victorian woman, Mercedes believed that she had the privilege of being helpless and having her men tend to her. If she didn’t she would make their lives “unendurable” by nagging them. A prerogative is “asked for” or assumed ahead of time, to the exclusion of others.

115. What was the “lusty last straw”?
Mercedes had to sit on the sled

116. Why did Hal and Charles come back for Mercedes?
She is family

117. How did Buck describe his life with Hal, Charles, and Mercedes (simile)?
As in a nightmare

118. Which dog had to be knocked on the head with the ax?
Billee

119. Which four dogs fell into the lake with Hal, Charles, and Mercedes?
Teek, Pike, Sol-leks, and Joe

120. What metaphor is used to describe the dogs as they cling to life?
like a flame about to be extinguished

121. Using ANTITHESIS, he makes the dogs’ condition seem even worse
Why does Jack London stop to describe the beautiful spring weather at this point?
Using ANTITHESIS, he makes the dogs’ condition seem even worse

122. Why is Thornton at his camp?
He froze his feet the prior December

123. Who had a doctor trait?
Skeet

124. Who is a huge black, demonstrative dog?
Nig

125. When with Thornton, what was Buck’s for the first time?
Love, genuine, passionate love

126. Thornton saw to the welfare of his dogs as if they were ____.
His children

127. Why didn’t Buck let Thornton out of his sight?
Out of a fear that no master was permanent

128. Faithfulness and devotion were Buck’s, yet he retained his _____ and _____.
Wildness and wiliness

129. Because of his great love, what could Buck not do?
Steal from Thornton or his dogs

130. In the wild, Buck must master or _____.
Be mastered

131. What did not exist in the primordial life?
Mercy

132. What was mercy mistaken for in the wild?
Fear

133. What was Buck willing to for Thornton upon command?
Jump off a 300-ft. cliff

134. Why did a miner’s meeting need to be called?
Buck tore out Black Burton’s throat

135. Why did Buck have sufficient provocation to do this?
Buck was simply defending Thornton, who had tried to step between Burton and a “tenderfoot.”

136. PROVOCATION (Chapter 6)
Something that provokes, incites, or arouses to action
PRO- = forth VOC= to call or voice
Buck had sufficient provocation to attack Black Burton at Circle City, the miner’s meeting determined. Burton was the “aggressor” and picked on the young man at the bar, and then proceeded to go after Thornton. Buck had due cause to rip out Burton’s throat.

137. How did Buck and Thornton go against DPB at Forty Mile Creek?
Each risked their lives to save the other

138. Who called Thornton’s bluff at Eldorado Saloon?
Matthewson

139. Who loaned Thornton money at Eldorado Saloon?
Jim O’Brien

140. What was the bet?
Whether Buck could pull a 1,000 pound sled for 100 yards and break it out

141. How much money did Buck earn for Thornton in five minutes?
$1,600

142. SUCCESSION (Chapter 6) The act of following in order
SUC- = near, up to CESS = to go
Buck lurched the sled forward in a rapid succession of jerks… This emphasizes how difficult it was for Buck to pull this load by himself, one inch at a time.

143. PRECEDENT (Chapter 6)
An action or decision that later serves as an example
PRE- = before CED = to go
Buck sets a precedent by being the first dog to pull a thousand-pound sled. His record will be the one to try to break by all of the other sled owners.

144. What was steeped in tragedy and shrouded in mystery?
The lost mine, or “Lost Cabin”

145. Indian fashion (salt, rifle, tools)
How did the men travel?
Indian fashion (salt, rifle, tools)

146. With Thornton, Buck again envisions the hairy man
With Thornton, Buck again envisions the hairy man. In this world, what was the salient thing?
fear

147. While traveling with Thornton, what was boundless delight for Buck?
Hunting, fishing, and indefinite wandering through strange places.

148. INDEFINITE (Chapter 7) having no exact limits, especially of time
IN- = not DE- = thoroughly FIN= to limit
To “define” a word is to thoroughly “limit” its meaning. Something that is “indefinite” has no such limit. Pay attention to the “i” in FIN and the “i” in ITE.

149. How did Buck show pertinacity in the forest one night?
He chased a long, lean, timber wolf and didn’t give up until the wolf stopped running.

150. PERTINACITY (Chapter 7)
Adhering resolutely to a course of action; stubbornly persistent
PER- = through TIN= to hold
Buck was persistent as he chased the lone wolf through the forest. He “held through” and did not give up, allowing the two to become friends.

151. When was Buck at last answering the call?
Running side by side with his wolf brother

152. What was Buck able to kill?
Bear, two wolverines, moose calf, a bull moose

153. Brown on his muzzle and a splash of white down his chest
What color was Buck?
Brown on his muzzle and a splash of white down his chest

154. What did Buck inherit from his father?
Size and weight

155. What did Buck inherit from his mother?
Muzzle and shape

156. What three things made Buck formidable?
Wolf cunning, dog intelligence, and experience in the wild

157. Perceive, determine, and respond to danger
What three things could Buck do with but an infinitesimal interval between them?
Perceive, determine, and respond to danger

158. INFINITESIMAL (Chapter 7)
extremely small
IN- = not FINIT= bounded ESIM = hundredth
A use of hyperbole to show how magnificent an animal Buck is at this point. He can perceive something (notice it); determine what it is an if it is dangerous, and respond (fight or flight).

159. What trait did Buck use to bring down the bull moose?
patience

160. When did Buck allow passion to usurp cunning and reason?
After he found Hans, dead

161. What did the Yeehats think Buck was when he fought them?
Evil Spirit

162. Buck knew that Death is a cessation of movement
Buck knew that Death is a cessation of movement. It left a great void in him, somewhat akin to ____.
Hunger

163. CESSATION (Chapter 7) A temporary or final ceasing or stopping
CESS = to go
Buck hears a cessation in the forest on his return to camp; he knew something was wrong when the animals were not chattering. Then he describes Death as a cessation of movement.

164. Who remained faithful to Thornton to the last?
Skeet

165. What did Buck have to do to join the wolf pack?
Fight several of the pack’s fiercest fighters

166. After a time, what do the Yeehats tell of?
A Ghost Dog