How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[…] and he stormed and raged at them through the bars. They only laughed and poked sticks at him, which he promptly assailed with his teeth till he realized that that was what they wanted. Whereupon he lay down sullenly and allowed the crate to be lifted into a wagon. (1.23)
Buck chooses to submit when he realizes the futility of fighting.
Quote #2
As he spoke he fearlessly patted the head he had so mercilessly pounded, and though Buck's hair involuntarily bristled at touch of the hand, he endured it without protest. When the man brought him water he drank eagerly, and later bolted a generous meal of raw meat, chunk by chunk, from the man's hand. (1.39)
Buck sometimes chooses pragmatism over pride; he is too hungry and worn out to refuse food from the man that beat him.
Quote #3
Though his dignity was sorely hurt by thus being made a draught animal, he was too wise to rebel. (2.5)
Buck’s adaptation to the wild involves a mental component as well as a physical one—he learns when to fight and when to submit.
Quote #4
As François's whip backed him up, Buck found it to be cheaper to mend his ways than to retaliate. (2.17)
The threat of violence continually hangs over Buck, causing him to submit rather than fight.
Quote #5
All his days, no matter what the odds, he had never run from a fight. But the club of the man in the red sweater had beaten into him a more fundamental and primitive code. (2.23)
Buck quickly learns that submission is sometimes a necessary component of the law of club and fang.
Quote #6
[…] and in the bitter hatred between him and Spitz he betrayed no impatience, shunned all offensive acts. (3.1)
Before he fights with Spitz, Buck tries to avoid a conflict.
Quote #7
And strange Buck was to him, for of the many Southland dogs he had known, not one had shown up worthily in camp and on trail. They were all too soft, dying under the toil, the frost, and starvation. Buck was the exception. He alone endured and prospered, matching the husky in strength, savagery, and cunning. Then he was a masterful dog, and what made him dangerous was the fact that the club of the man in the red sweater had knocked all blind pluck and rashness out of his desire for mastery. He was preeminently cunning, and could bide his time with a patience that was nothing less than primitive. (3.22)
In some ways, being able to submit is a victory all on its own. It is an ability that separates Buck from the other dogs, and is a primitive quality rather than a domestic one. Again, we see a mental component to the act of submission.
Quote #8
François sat down and scratched his head. Perrault looked at his watch and swore. Time was flying, and they should have been on the trail an hour gone. François scratched his head again. He shook it and grinned sheepishly at the courier, who shrugged his shoulders in sign that they were beaten. (4.11)
The men that understand the ways of dogs and the wild are able to admit when they are defeated, whereas the ignorant men (Charles and Hal) are not.
Quote #9
"You poor, poor dears," she cried sympathetically, "why don't you pull hard?--then you wouldn't be whipped." Buck did not like her, but he was feeling too miserable to resist her, taking it as part of the day's miserable work. (5.29)
As Buck’s physical condition worsens, his ability to fight weakens.
Quote #10
So greatly had he suffered, and so far gone was he, that the blows did not hurt much. And as they continued to fall upon him, the spark of life within flickered and went down. It was nearly out. He felt strangely numb. As though from a great distance, he was aware that he was being beaten. (5.58)
Buck’s moment of near defeat coincides with his physical deterioration. When physically unable to resists, he is also forced into mental submission.