Illustration of Buck in the snow with mountains in the background

The Call of the Wild

by Jack London

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The Call of the Wild Questions on Chapter 5

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The Call of the Wild

The dogs couldn't move the sled for Hal and Charles due to several reasons: the sled was overloaded with unnecessary equipment, the dogs were exhausted from insufficient rest, and the sled's runners...

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The Call of the Wild

Some thought-provoking questions from various chapters of The Call of the Wild include: How does Buck's transformation reflect the theme of survival of the fittest? What does Buck's relationship with...

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The Call of the Wild

The deaths of Hal, Charles, Mercedes, and the dog sled team in The Call of the Wild are primarily due to their inexperience, poor judgment, and mistreatment of the dogs. They overburden the sled,...

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The Call of the Wild

Hans and Pete are John Thornton's partners in The Call of the Wild. They join Thornton in Buck's adventures, such as saving Thornton from drowning and helping him win a bet by hauling a heavy load....

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The Call of the Wild

In The Call of the Wild, John Thornton warns Charles, Hal, and Mercedes about crossing the thin ice and advises them to halt their journey. When Hal proceeds to brutally whip Buck, Thornton demands...

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The Call of the Wild

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...

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The Call of the Wild

Hal traded his gun for horsehide because he and his companions, Charles and Mercedes, were inexperienced and poorly prepared for their journey to Dawson. They had an overloaded sled and starving...

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The Call of the Wild

In Chapter 5, both dogs and humans are unaware of the spring weather due to their inexperience and lack of knowledge about the northern environment. The humans mistakenly assume spring will ease...

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The Call of the Wild

When Buck and the sled team arrived in Skagway, they were in a "wretched state," exhausted from a grueling thirty-day journey from Dawson. The dogs had lost significant weight, with Buck losing 25...

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The Call of the Wild

In "The Call of the Wild," the sled dogs initially receive too much food due to the incompetence of their owners, Charles, Hal, and Mercedes, who naively believe that more dogs will make the sled go...

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The Call of the Wild

John Thornton advises Hal and Charles to lighten their sled load and to rest their dogs, as they are overworked and exhausted. He warns them that continuing as they are will lead to disaster....

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The Call of the Wild

Buck refused to lead the team primarily because he had lost the will to live due to the harsh treatment from his masters. Additionally, Buck possessed a sense of "impending doom," an instinctual...

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