The Call of the Wild was written in 1903 by Jack London. The United States was rapidly developing while this novel was being written. The current state of the world greatly affected this novel and this novel went on to make an impact in many ways. The novel focuses on an incredibly strong and intelligent dog named Buck and his various transformations as the novel progresses. Buck starts out as a pampered dog living an easy life and he ends as a ferocious beast living in the wild. Buck is regularly thrown into extremely different environments throughout his life, but he is able to succeed in each one due to his natural strength and intelligence. This is similar to the way Americans viewed advantages in society in the early 1900’s when The Call
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Social Darwinism is the idea that certain people are outright superior to others and they are supposed to be at the top of society. “In the society of his day, Spencer also believed countries like England and the United States represented the most advanced civilizations because the most able were allowed to introduce new ideas in a competitive marketplace, allowing the most fit (a term used in Darwin's Origin) to rise to the top of society” (Stoskopf). London uses the character Buck to represent Social Darwinism in his novel. In the novel Buck is described as an extremely strong and intelligent dog which leads to him succeeding in everything he does. "Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion, the dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it good" (London 40). Buck succeeds in every environment he is placed in due to his natural advantages including his strong physical and mental …show more content…
The competition within the team of dogs that Buck meets is comparable to the competitive nature of the real world. The idea of competition is an integral part of the Social Darwinism ideology. According to Social Darwinism progress is due to the requirement of surpassing others in order to thrive. “While Sumner and other Social Darwinists might have differed on other issues, they were united in their belief that progress was built upon a fierce and largely unregulated competition in social and economic life and that people had to fend for themselves if society was to continue to progress”(Stoskopf). The barbarous environments that Buck finds himself in are very comparable to the real world in the eyes of a Social
Social Darwinism is the idea that certain people are outright superior to others and they are supposed to be at the top of society. “In the society of his day, Spencer also believed countries like England and the United States represented the most advanced civilizations because the most able were allowed to introduce new ideas in a competitive marketplace, allowing the most fit (a term used in Darwin's Origin) to rise to the top of society” (Stoskopf). London uses the character Buck to represent Social Darwinism in his novel. In the novel Buck is described as an extremely strong and intelligent dog which leads to him succeeding in everything he does. "Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion, the dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it good" (London 40). Buck succeeds in every environment he is placed in due to his natural advantages including his strong physical and mental …show more content…
The competition within the team of dogs that Buck meets is comparable to the competitive nature of the real world. The idea of competition is an integral part of the Social Darwinism ideology. According to Social Darwinism progress is due to the requirement of surpassing others in order to thrive. “While Sumner and other Social Darwinists might have differed on other issues, they were united in their belief that progress was built upon a fierce and largely unregulated competition in social and economic life and that people had to fend for themselves if society was to continue to progress”(Stoskopf). The barbarous environments that Buck finds himself in are very comparable to the real world in the eyes of a Social