Illustration of Buck in the snow with mountains in the background

The Call of the Wild

by Jack London

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What are Spitz's special characteristics in The Call of the Wild?

Quick answer:

Spitz is a rival to Buck, both for the leadership of the dogs and for the affection of his master. He is smart, but also prone to violence and has a great deal of pride.

Expert Answers

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Spitz is a rival to Buck. He not very likable, for he is a bully with the other dogs, and he is very jealous of his position of authority as the lead dog. He is also smart and a fairly ruthless fighter. He is prone to violence and will fight any dog that so much as looks at him sideways. Spitz also has a great deal of pride, and he challenges Buck, for instance by sleeping in Buck's space in the snow. Spitz's pride and his desire to defeat Buck are perhaps his most important characteristics. We learn that it

was the pride that bore up Spitz and made him thrash the sled-dogs who blundered and shirked in the traces or hid away at harness-up time in the morning. Likewise it was this pride that made him fear Buck as a possible lead-dog.

He and Buck have a fight over who is going to be the lead dog, a fight brought on when Spitz attacks Buck just as Buck is vulnerable because he is preoccupied by an attack of outsider dogs. Buck wins against Spitz because he has the intelligence and cunning of a house dog—which leads him to attack Spitz's legs—but also understands the call of the wild with his big heart.

After Spitz is defeated, he is killed and eaten by the other dogs.

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