The Call of the Wild Pride Quotes

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

Quote #10

"And break it out, and walk off with it for a hundred yards," John Thornton said coolly. (6.32)

Thornton accepts a bet because of his pride in Buck.

Quote #11

Thornton's doubt was strong in his face, but his fighting spirit was aroused—the fighting spirit that soars above odds, fails to recognize the impossible, and is deaf to all save the clamor for battle. He called Hans and Pete to him. Their sacks were slim, and with his own the three partners could rake together only two hundred dollars. In the ebb of their fortunes, this sum was their total capital; yet they laid it unhesitatingly against Matthewson's six hundred. (6.42)

Pride and money are both powerful motivating forces, but pride takes precedence.

Quote #12

At times, when he paused to contemplate the carcasses of the Yeehats, he forgot the pain of it; and at such times he was aware of a great pride in himself--a pride greater than any he had yet experienced. He had killed man, the noblest game of all, and he had killed in the face of the law of club and fang. He sniffed the bodies curiously. They had died so easily. It was harder to kill a husky dog than them. They were no match at all, were it not for their arrows and spears and clubs. Thenceforward he would be unafraid of them except when they bore in their hands their arrows, spears, and clubs. (7.41)

Buck’s pride develops as the result of his own actions. Adapting to the wild changes the way he views himself and the pride he feels with regard to his own personal worth.