Discussion Topic
Motivations of Hal, Mercedes, and Charles for heading to the Klondike in The Call of the Wild despite their inexperience
Summary:
Hal, Mercedes, and Charles are motivated to head to the Klondike in The Call of the Wild by the allure of adventure and the prospect of striking it rich. Despite their inexperience, they are driven by the excitement of gold rush fever and the hope of finding wealth and success in the untamed wilderness.
Why did inexperienced Hal, Mercedes, and Charles set out for the Klondike in The Call of the Wild?
There could be a lot of possible reasons as to why Hal, Charles, and Mercedes head for the Klondike despite their inexperience. In fact, I would probably say that they headed for the Klondike because of their inexperience. The trio is simply ignorant of the dangers present in nature, and they are ignorant of the necessary supplies that they need and don't need. They are foolish and overconfident. They feel that their desire to get to their destination will somehow overcome any kind of difficulty.
I'm also confident that they head out to the Klondike because they are greedy. If there was no promise of future wealth, I do not think that they would have gone.
I believe that a reader could make a case that the trio is also stubborn. They are warned about their timing and load, but Hal, Mercedes, and Charles do not heed any of that...
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advice.
As for why they were unsuccessful in reaching the Klondike, the easy is answer is that they died. Their deaths could have been avoided had they listened to the advice of the experienced men about how much to load the sled and to not go over the ice that late in the season. Their arrogance and foolishness ultimately got them killed.
In The Call of the Wild, why do Hal, Mercedes, and Charles head for the Klondike despite their inexperience?
Through the characters of Hal, Mercedes, and Charles, London seeks to highlight the arrogant, disrespectful attitudes of many town and city dwellers towards nature and the damaging consequences that can follow.
It's clear from the start that this hapless trio is out of its depth in the frozen wilderness of the Klondike. These people make basic mistakes that betray their ignorance and lack of experience, such as taking too much stuff with them and miscalculating how much food they will need.
The biggest mistake they make turns out to be their last. Despite being warned by John Thornton not to, Hal, Mercedes, and Charles attempt to trek across a frozen river. Almost inevitably, the ice cracks beneath them, and these three foolish individuals sink to their deaths in the icy water.
The fate of these people is intended by London to serve as a salutary warning to those people who arrogantly think they can conquer nature, seeing it as some kind of challenge to do so. This is the same warning that London gives to the reader in his short story “To Build a Fire,” in which another arrogant, unprepared individual comes to grief in the icy wastes because he didn't respect nature.