Chapter 7

The Call of the Wild

Trailblazers · 4th–6th

Copywork

All day Buck brooded by the pool or roamed restlessly about the camp. Death, as a cessation of movement, as a passing out and away from the lives of the living, he knew, and he knew John Thornton was dead. It left a great void in him, somewhat akin to hunger, but a void which ached and ached, and which food could not fill.

After copying, notice that London gives what Buck knows of death in general terms, "as a cessation of movement", before he says "he knew John Thornton was dead". Why might he order it that way, and what does "somewhat" do to the comparison with hunger in the next sentence?

Discussion

Narration Tell back the chapter in order: the search for the Lost Cabin, the wolf, the moose, the ruined camp, and the pack.

1. At the stream Buck remembers John Thornton, sits down, and turns back while the wolf whines beside him. What is pulling Buck each way?Inference

2. Thornton, Pete and Hans watch Buck march out of camp, but they "did not see" what he becomes in the forest. What do they see in Buck, and what do they miss?Character

3. London names "a patience of the wild" that "belonged to Buck" on the moose hunt. What do you make of that patience?Theme

4. Buck attacks the Yeehats and, London says, loses his head "because of his great love for John Thornton." How do you judge what he does?Moral reasoning

5. The last pages give what "the Yeehats tell" and what "the Yeehats do not know." Why might London end by watching Buck from outside?Author's choice

6. London never says how Thornton died; the pool "contained John Thornton," and Buck follows a trace into water "from which no trace led away." What does telling it this way do?Tone

Make a Connection Tell about a story where an animal and a person are close, and what that closeness asks of each.

Vocabulary

Crossword

1
				2
3			4

	5			6
7

8					9

		10

Across

Across 1. Sat thinking sadly for a long time
Across 3. A stopping or coming to an end
Across 6. Left ruined and empty
Across 8. Stubborn persistence that will not give up
Across 10. Full of sorrow

Down

Down 2. An empty space where something is missing
Down 4. Similar to, of the same kind
Down 5. To seize a place or power that belongs to another
Down 7. In a commanding way that expects to be obeyed
Down 9. A pause in fighting agreed by both sides

The words in the chapter

BROODED All day Buck brooded by the pool or roamed restlessly about the camp.
CESSATION Death, as a cessation of movement, as a passing out and away from the lives of the living, he knew, and he knew John Thornton was dead.
VOID It left a great void in him, somewhat akin to hunger, but a void which ached and ached, and which food could not fill.
AKIN It left a great void in him, somewhat akin to hunger, but a void which ached and ached, and which food could not fill.
PERTINACITY But in the end Buck’s pertinacity was rewarded; for the wolf, finding that no harm was intended, finally sniffed noses with him.

USURP For the last time in his life he allowed passion to usurp cunning and reason, and it was because of his great love for John Thornton that he lost his head.
IMPERIOUSLY But after two days the call in the forest began to sound more imperiously than ever.
TRUCE It was the menacing truce that marks the meeting of wild beasts that prey.
DESOLATED As for Buck, wearying of the pursuit, he returned to the desolated camp.
MOURNFUL It was a mournful howl, and as Buck held steadily on his way he heard it grow faint and fainter until it was lost in the distance.

Critical thinking

1. Buck "did not attack" the wolf but "circled him about and hedged him in with friendly advances." Using two pieces of evidence, explain why the wolf comes to trust him.

2. Buck goes with the hairy man into "that other world." Using two pieces of evidence, explain what that world is like.

3. The wolf pack pours into the clearing, and in the end the wolves "drew back discomfited." Using two pieces of evidence, explain why they give way.