The Call of the Wild Knowledge and Wisdom Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

Later his feet grew hard to the trail, and the worn-out foot-gear was thrown away. (3.17)

The adaptation to pain is a necessary step on the way to Buck’s change.

Quote #11

Thirty days from the time it left Dawson, the Salt Water Mail, with Buck and his mates at the fore, arrived at Skaguay. They were in a wretched state, worn out and worn down. Buck's one hundred and forty pounds had dwindled to one hundred and fifteen. (5.1)

Again, we see some destruction involved in Buck’s adaptation, this time it is physical.

Quote #12

And so it went, the inexorable elimination of the superfluous. Mercedes cried when her clothes-bags were dumped on the ground and article after article was thrown out. She cried in general, and she cried in particular over each discarded thing. She clasped hands about knees, rocking back and forth broken-heartedly. She averred she would not go an inch, not for a dozen Charleses. She appealed to everybody and to everything, finally wiping her eyes and proceeding to cast out even articles of apparel that were imperative necessaries. And in her zeal, when she had finished with her own, she attacked the belongings of her men and went through them like a tornado. (5.34)

While Buck is able to adapt to his new surroundings, others are not.