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What was Mercedes's reaction when her belongings were sorted to lighten the load in The Call of the Wild?
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Mercedes reacts with distress and heartbreak when her belongings are sorted and discarded to lighten the sled's load. As Charles and Hal, inexperienced in leading a dog team, begin to throw away her clothes, she cries and protests, even refusing to continue the journey initially. Despite her emotional response, she eventually cooperates. This reaction highlights her disconnect from the harsh realities of their situation and the necessity of prioritizing survival over possessions.
In chapter five, Buck and his team are sold to two inexperienced owners, Charles and Hal, who are "out of place" in the Northland and have no idea how to properly lead a dog team across the Klondike. Mercedes is Charles’s wife and Hal’s sister, who is portrayed as a flighty primadonna. As the men overpack senseless belongings that will only slow the dogs down and make their journey significantly more arduous, the townsfolk advise them to lighten their load and only bring necessary items. Tragically, Hal and Charles are poor owners and disregard their warnings. After the sled tumbles over, the men reluctantly begin to remove unnecessary items from the heavy sled. Mercedes immediately begins to cry as Charles and Hale unpack her articles of clothing and throw them away. Mercedes petitions them to stop and even refuses to join them on their journey. Eventually, Mercedes cooperates and agrees...
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to get rid of her clothing. Overall, Mercedes is heart-broken and upset when Charles and Hal rummage through her belongings in order to lighten their load.
Mercedes is a beauty queen. She is furious when her belongings are rifled through and thrown out.
Mercedes, Hal and Charles should never have had a dog sled team. They were not prepared, and did not understand that they had weighed the sled down too much. The scene is described this way. When the men are loading the sled, “Mercedes continually fluttered in the way of her men and kept up an unbroken chattering of remonstrance and advice” (enotes etext p. 28).
It gets even worse when the “kind-hearted citizens” intervene and try to help lighten the load of the sled.
Mercedes cried when her clothes-bags were dumped on the ground and article after article was thrown out. She cried in general, and she cried in particular over each discarded thing. She clasped hands about knees, rocking back and forth broken-heartedly. (p. 29)
Clearly, Mercedes is out of touch with reality. She does not realize that if they keep their possessions, they and the dogs will most likely die.