Compare And Contrast Thornton And John Simpson

Throughout the story, Call of the Wild, Buck goes through phases of having many owners as he moves from civilization to the wilderness. The two owners that stood out the most were Hal and John Thornton. Hal was a very cruel and inexperienced owner. John Thornton was a very smart and compassionate man as he cared for humans and animals. Even though both of them had differences, they also had similarities. These characters were similar as they both tested Buck’s abilities. Although Hal and Thornton were very different characters, they both showed how their character and actions can affect the surrounding creatures.
John Thornton was a very kind and experienced man, who had trusted in all his animals. As stated in chapter 5, page 113, John Thornton states, “If you strike that dog again, I’ll kill you.” John Thornton could have watch Buck get killed but instead, he stood up for Buck. This showed that he had a heart for Buck as he did not want Buck to die. As stated in chapter 6, page 132, “Pooh! Pooh!” said John Thornton, “Buck can start a thousand pounds.” This showed that even though the odds were two to one, …show more content…
Hal was a very cold-blooded and inexperienced man. John Thornton stated, “I tell you straight, I would risk my carcass on that ice for all the gold in Alaska.” Hal was told not to cross the river, but he did not listen which lead to him and the sled dogs dying in the river. Hal was very stubborn as he never listened to the beneficial advice the people gave him. As stated in chapter 5, page 101, “They hastened it by overfeeding, bringing the day near when underfeeding would commerce.” His inexperience lead to the sled dogs starving. Hal did not know how to control the food supply as he would sometimes give the dogs too much food which lead to the dog having less food later on. This lack of knowledge caused the sled dogs to suffer greatly, even though they had done nothing