Writing Task
You have read The Call of the Wild which tells the story of a dog named Buck who is stolen from his home in order to later be trained as a sled dog. During the story, Buck gets involved in a power struggle with another dog named Spitz. Buck later wins the fight to become the lead dog. Write an essay analyzing how these differences in points of view create tension in the novel.
Student Response
Jack London in one of his most famous novels, The Call of the Wild, describes his main character as “…a killer, a thing that preyed, living on the things that lived, unaided, alone, by virtue of his own strength and prowess, surviving triumphantly in a hostile environment where only the strong survive.” In the novel, the characters of Buck and Spitz are both very powerful alpha males who display strong desires to be the leader of the pack. With Spitz as the leader, Buck begins to wage a revolt against Spitz. They each plot to get rid of the other. The differences between Buck and Spitz’s points of view create tension in the novel.
When Buck arrives in the Klondike, his first encounter with Spitz is a nasty one as he sees Spitz laughing at Curly’s horrific death. This sets the pace for the relationship between the two as Buck immediately sees Spitz as an enemy on page 27 when “Spitz ran out his tongue and laughed again, and from that moment Buck hated him with a bitter and deathless hatred.” After witnessing this cold-hearted attitude, Buck is convinced that Spitz is nothing but a brute and needs to be replaced as leader of the team. From Buck’s perspective, Spitz is not fit to be the leader. The tension between the two characters becomes quite obvious and leads to a lot of conflicts as the story progresses.
The reader is finally able to understand a little of Spitz’s perspective in chapter three of the novel. Spitz is a harsh leader, but he does so mostly to keep the team disciplined and working as a cohesive unit as stated on page 55, “…the pride that spurred them on all day and dropped them at pitch of camp at night, letting them fall into gloomy unrest and uncontent. This was the pride that bore up Spitz and made him thrash the sled dogs who blundered and shirked in the traces…” Spitz’s perspective is shown through his pride in leading his disciplined team. It is this pride and the desire to continue as the leader that makes him want to kill Buck. The tension this creates is clear to the reader as the drama between the two characters builds throughout the beginning of the book.
By considering Buck and Spitz’s perspectives, it is easy to see why the tension builds between the two characters. Their tension creates a lot of drama as the story progresses, which helps to draw the reader into the story. It is this ongoing struggle of who knows what is best for the group that continues to intrigue readers today. Overall, the character’s differing points of view are what drive the story.
Writing Details
After posting a different Call of the Wild student response, I realized that I had never posted this particular essay.
This essay was from one of my students in 2018 where they do a good job of comparing different character perspectives specifically in the area of tension which is a favorite essay topic among the designers of our state tests.
My students will be responding to a similar writing task soon. Even though it will be on a different story and characters, this will be a great tool for them to see how to format an essay on this topic.
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