Naturalism is the offspring of transcendentalism which asserts itself from the unity of Nature and Spirit. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the mainstream of American transcendentalism divides into two rivers of thought. One nourishes progressivism, idealism and social radicalism in its intuitive approach to Spirit. The other, using science to approach Nature; dives into the lightless canyon of mechanistic determinism. Jack London occupies a very important position in the current of naturalistic writing. He stands rugged but precarious like a colossus with a single foot in each part of the divided stream.

In addition to writing his selections based around the central theme f Naturalism there are also a few other terms that will dominate the interpretation of The Call of the Wild, which in some respects are echoed in London's life. One of the terms to which London was determined to set all his works around was materialism. London defines materialism in the shadows of Herbert Spencer by saying "Law, inexorable blind unreasoning law, which has no knowledge of good or ill, right or wrong, which has no preference, grants no favors " (9:90).

The next few terms, in addition to being a central theme in London's other works are in particular especially peculiar to The Call of the Wild. Primordialism which is the overall outcome of Buck is defined as the exploitation of the idea that civilization is a thin veneer and that the primitive brute is close to the surface in every human being or in the case of The Call of the Wild in every dog. Another term that is just as important would be the condition of atavism in which one's primitive self with its assumed ferocity and strength is close to the civilized surface (9: 87-89). There are still other terms that are significant in The Call of the Wild and which will be pointed out later on.

But before we go into citing naturalism and the other aforementioned terms let us turn to the author. The man who was affectionately dubbed "The Wolf" by George Sterling and who is a well known writer on Alaskan themes (6:24) and who wrote of the "survival values of the primitive."

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn at a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time " (2:7).

These words echoed by Jack London himself are a tried and true explanation
of his life.

Jack London was no everyday run-of-the-mill American author, but what made Jack London unique was the fact that while he wrote of great adventures, perhaps the greatest was the one that he lived. Jack London believed strongly that he was not put on the Earth to simply live out the rest of his days, but to make something of his life, and that something has been captured in his writing.

"Adventure and excitement were as essential to my uncle's life as food and water", wrote Irving Shepherd about the man who done more in forty years than most men have done in a lifetime. Jack London was a modern jack-of-all trades as far as traveling goes. In his quest to fill his life with vigor and excitement, he sailed to many places in the world and did numerous jobs. Perhaps the trip that is most relevant to this paper is his trip to the Yukon where he joined the Klondike gold rush in 1897, where he was inspired to write his Yukon fiction (3:16) and where he saw life as a struggle for existence in which quarter was always denied and only the strong could survive. And with that we may enter into the naturalistic inspiration behind London's The Call of the Wild.

Darwinianism as it relates to London's favors Nietzche thought which seeks the constant improvement and progress (not just anarchical egoism) if not impeded by the folly of the slave morality would result from evolution. It is this same Darwinianism that is especially prevalent throughout The Call of the Wild that says life itself was harsh in a world that had evolved by survival of the fittest (5:6).

The late nineteenth century had seen the emergence of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, a theory which had become, by the time of London's novel, one of the most controversial scientific theories ever advocated. In a nutshell Darwin's theory concerns the evolution of mankind in the question 'Was man born as he was today or did he evolve from a more primitive species?' This theory is furthered emphasized by London's use of survival of the fittest to whom the idea of life as a struggle appealed to him tremendously.

London emerge d as a popular historian of the Klondike. He was the poet savage of the Darwinian struggle and the poet laureate as the animals themselves understood it. This is exemplified when Buck reverts to the Darwinian survival of the fittest and the Nietzschean superman principles for his protection. In addition to Darwin London read Dickens, Poe, Marx, Crane, Stevenson, and Kipling - men who could teach him how to write and how to think (1:6). He took their theories and basic principles and wove them together to clothed the plots of his novels.

London was determined to write a dog story in four thousand words but he admits "I started it as a companion to my other dog story 'Batard' which you may remember; but it got away from me and instead of 4000 words it ran 32000 before I could call it to a halt. And it was this over written dog story that became a best seller when it was published and still remains near the top of London's long list of works that came to be named The Call of the Wild.

The meaning of Jack London's The Call of the Wild besides its Darwinian theory overtone is subject to a variety of interpretations. On its most simplest superficial and insensitive level, The Call of the Wild is just another of Jack London's "dog stories" which also includes White Fang and Jerry of the Islands (8:274). However this popular novel does illustrate London's appeal to the untamed passions and recounts of a flight into the wild. With all of this London has portrayed in The Call of the Wild a vivid picture of the dilemma of the disadvantaged even though he did so by using a dog as his protagonist.

In Chapter 1 "Into the Primitive" the concepts of naturalism are summarized in the first four opening lines. Within each of us there is a primitive beast that can emerge at any particular time but is more apt to emerge under extreme stress. These forces are hibernating and at the right time will awaken and assume their bestial qualities. These are prime examples of primordialism and atavism. Buck has been basically "Jerked from the heart of civilization and flung into the heart of things primordial" the beginning of the transformation that ultimately carries him into Natures heart of darkness (10:73). It should also be noted that London will use Buck the extraordinarily powerful enormous dog as an anthropomorphic (meaning attributing human qualities to an animal) example of similar qualities for all humankind and that Buck has learned the 'law of club' that is a man with a club is more powerful than a single dog.

In Chapter 2 Buck learns the 'law of fang' and that there is "no fair play, once down that was the end of you." In keeping with the concept of survival of the fittest Buck learns to eat anything to help him survive and his senses become especially keen. Bucks fitness is measured by his primordialism "he was hacking back through his own life to the lives of his forbears" "when wild dogs ranged in packs through the primeval forest and killed their meat as they ran it down."

In Chapter 3 Buck has become "the dominant primordial beast"(l1:23) and the story continues as the conflict for leadership between Spitz and Buck. "It was inevitable that the clash for leadership would come. Buck wanted it. He wanted it because it was his nature, because he had been gripped tight by that homeless, incomprehensible pride of the trail and trace; that pride which holds dogs in the toil to the last gasp which lures them to die joyfully in the harness". Buck is big and intelligent but the experience lies with Spitz however Buck has Imagination and his prowess increases. We now realized that this is no common animal story.

In Chapter 4 London reminds us of survival of the fittest when Buck and his mates are making the journey back to Dawson even though it snows everyday, in spite of the fact that the dogs are in poor condition because of lack of rest and recuperation. Buck has now won mastership and with this one must admire the dog's noble courage.

In Chapter 5: London shows three inexperienced people from the Southland faced by wholly different circumstances of the great North, and he portrays their inability to adhere to such extremely changing conditions. Each of them tries to take to much "civilization" with them into this diverse uncivilized land. Buck knows that the frozen Yukon will not hold up during the Spring thaw: yet these people of so-called civilized intellect seemingly cannot and will not comprehend the ways to survive in the extremities of the harsh North.

Chapter 6 is dedicated to the love of man and dog and in this the readers emotions are entirely civilized and human as we react to the acknowledgment of Bucks attachment to Thornton while in all other areas Buck is becoming more wild. Buck is now being prepared for the ultimate stage of his odyssey. "Deep in the forest a call was sounding ...But as often as he gained the soft unbroken earth and the green shade the love for John Thornton drew him back"(10:76). London also reiterates to us that the body Buck is scarred "scored by the teeth of many dogs" so much that other dogs would quickly acknowledge his supremacy in a fight. Buck has learned well the 'law of club and fang.' Mercy was a weakness and did not exist in primordial life; eat or be eaten kill or be killed was the law.

In Chapter 7 London presents another view of Buck that is Buck answering the call of the wild or his complete reversion to the primitive. Buck's memories of the strange ape-like man and the call of the wild which he constantly hears causes strange and unknown feelings to rise within him. London uses the ape-like man as a symbol of the primitive element in all mankind urging Buck to return to the wild. Bucks atavism surges up within him and he is now ready to complete his transformation from his previous civilized life to the ways of the wilderness. He is now a wild creature who has learned to live by his own cunning and intelligence. He now only kills for self preservation. When the Yeehat Indians kill John Thornton Buck pursues the dancing savages who had trapped and annihilated the little party of treasure seekers and then man becomes the "noblest game of all" (4:10). With all attachments to civilization gone Buck becomes the leader of a pack wolves who are highly sociable animals with strong respect for family status and territory and have a rich language that sustains the group and fosters individual survival (7:12), and is transformed into the immortal Ghost Dog of Northland legend. The "call of the wild" has been heard and it has been answered magnificently.

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2. Shepard, Irving. Tales of Adventures. New York: Double Day and Company, Inc., 1956.

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5. Calder, Arthur. The Bodley Head. New York: London Claves & Sons, n.d.

6. Feied, Frederic. No Pie In the Sky. New York: The Citadel Press, 1964.

7. Lochtman, Howard. Jack London. Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1984.

8. Magill, Frank N. 1300 Critical Evaluations of Selected Novels and Plays. Engle Woods Cliffs: Salem Press, 1976.

9. Walcutt, Charles Child. American Literary Naturalism: A Divided Stream. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1956.

10. Labor, Earle. Jack London. New York: Twayne Publishers Incorporated, 1974.

11. Umland, Samuel T. Cliffs Notes on London's The Call of the Wild and White Fang. Lincoln, Nebraska: Cliffs Note Incorporated, 1974.