Explication of Rivalry of Kin in "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London

Out of poultice’s thirty-six dramatic situations, Rivalry of Kin could easily be related to “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London, as rivalry is a constant theme throughout the novel. This situation accurately reflects dog reality through its themes of the rejected and preferred kinsman. To fully understand the Rivalry of Kin featured in the novel you must first understand the pack mentality of wild dogs as their system of equality is vastly different from our own as human beings. This difference of equality can produce rivalries so great that they are unimaginable to the human race. When Buck is introduce to this pack mentality for the first time he saw that life as a wild dog can be one of the toughest life’s to live. He witnesses various friends literally torn apart through rivalries in the pack.

To go into further detail about pack mentality, it starts with the distinguishing of the alpha male, a rather monarch like figure seen as having great strength and overall stronger abilities than the rest of the pack. The alpha male or female decides just about everything; when and where to hunt, sleep, breed, and eat. The alpha figure also determines who stays in the pack and can our right kill other animals due to their insufficient loyalty, character, illness or age if he or she sees it not fitting into the structure of the pack. It is very common for this alpha male or female to reinforce their authority by fighting any other peers that challenge their decisions. With this understanding of the unwritten law of dog, you can now fully understand the true extent of rivalry that Buck experiences through the book as a result of becoming the leading figure and his trouble upholding his position as this figure. With this strong sense of singular leadership it is easy to see how easy a rivalry could be obtained, it could be as simple as fighting over a small morsel of food or sleeping space. With this fact we can see that the rivalry of kin is a theme that is commonly demonstrated not only through Bucks adventures and life story but through the entirety of dog history.

Buck has trouble distinguishing rivals, frightened that one fatal step or gesture could upset another dog. He was “constantly alert; for these dogs and men were not town dogs and men. They were savages, all of them” (19). The first encounter of this type of rivalry that Buck comes face to face with is the constant challenging of authority which ended in the desecration of a friend. The pack camped by a log store for rest and nutriment, it was here that Curly one of the female dogs made a fatal step. “She in her friendly way, made advances to a Husky dog the size of a full grown wolf…There was no warning, only a leap in a flash, a metallic clip of teeth, a leap out equally swift, and Curly’s face was ripped open from eye to jaw.”(19). Curly was left to be finished by the thirty or forty huskies circling the action where “she was buried screaming with agony, beneath the bristling mass of bodies” (20). This very sudden action of tragedy made it hard for Buck to really distinguish who his rivals were. As Curly was a friendly young pup who was pounced on for little to no reason. It was in this dark day that Buck learned to never let your guard down as you never know when you are going to be tempted by another beast to engage in combat. Through this technique of constant guard, he is able to distinguish who his true rival is.

Spitz is the alpha male featured in the pack when Buck was working delivering the post. Spitz is a constant shadow of festering wounds lurking over Buck always nipping at his feet scaring his body. Spitz tries to provoke fighting between him and Buck. “Spitz, as lead-dog and acknowledged master of the team, felt his supremacy threatened by this strange Southland dog.”(39). It was inevitable that the clash for leadership should come. Finally over a simple morsel of food the fight between Buck and Spitz was finally initiated. Spitz suffered the same fait as Curly, finally being killed by the watching dogs as “the dark circle became a dot on the moon-flooded snow as Spitz disappeared from view. Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion, the dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it good” (48). This event directly relates to the Rivalry of Kin as it expresses a rejected kinsman, that being Spitz and the now preferred kinsman, Buck.

Buck lives with rivalry as a common part of life like every dog would in his situation until he is introduced to an owner name John Thornton who releases him from the primitive forms of rivalry. John introduced a new way of life, a way of equality never seen by Buck before. He possessed a pair of dogs named Skeet and Nig that didn’t challenge one another or even present any sort of rivalry or aggressive behavior towards Buck. Skeet made friends with Buck rather early, “she had the doctor trait which some dogs possess…washing and cleansing Buck’s wounds” (80). Nig was equally as friendly with “eyes that laughed and had a boundless good nature”(80). They worked in unity and equality. “To Buck’s surprise these dogs manifested no jealousy toward him.”(81). This new ownership was Bucks escape from the unforgiving consequences of rivalry and the introduction to the more democratic lifestyle of a human.

Rivalry of Kin is one of the main aspects of a wild dog’s life. Throughout “The Call of the Wild” Buck has been thrashed around by fait. Lead to experience a rather dramatic set of rivalries. He witnesses rivalries first hand and physically fought through them to be released from their scaring burdens. Buck is then anthropomorphized allowing him to experience human like equality finally releasing him from the rivalries of his kinsmen.