Student Question

In "The Call of the Wild", how does the opening poem relate to the rest of the story?

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The opening poem in "The Call of the Wild" foreshadows the story's main theme of inherent instinct for survival in the wild. It suggests that a primal, dormant instinct exists within Buck, symbolized by "the ferine strain," which is awakened when he transitions from a domesticated life to the harsh realities of a sled dog and eventually to the wild. This transformation underscores the theme of survival of the fittest.

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The poem foreshadows the main theme of the story.

Jack London believes that within living creatures there is an inherent instinct that enables it to live in the wild, where survival is achieved by only the fittest. This instinct ("the ferine strain") lies dormant within Buck ("Old longings...chafing at custom's chain"), and is awakened and enables him to endure when he is torn from his domesticated world on Judge Miller's ranch and thrown into the brutal life of a sled dog and finally completely into the wild.

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