A literary classic, Jack London’s novel White Fang has captivated readers all over the world for more than a century. Set in the Yukon Territory during the Klondike Gold Rush, the novel tells the story of the eponymous wolfdog’s complex, difficult journey from the Canadian wilderness to human civilizations in the Yukon and California.
The novel shows how the violence and kindness its title character encounters both in the wild and in human civilization drastically alter the course of his life. It also makes interesting observations about the effects violence and kindness have both on individuals and societies.
Violence Enables Survival, Control, and Cruelty
Born in the harsh Canadian wilderness to a sled dog father and a wild wolf mother, the wolfdog White Fang grows up in an environment where violence is necessary to ensure the pack’s survival. The wolves have to not only kill smaller animals for food but also fend off other predators hunting for the same food or trying to drive them out of their territory. When a famine hits the area, his father is so desperate to find food for his pack that he attempts to rob a lynx’s den, leading to his death; White Fang’s mother then kills the lynx in return to secure food for herself and her cub.
Violence also abounds in the Yukon’s human settlements. White Fang has a nasty encounter with some Indigenous boys who club him when he growls and bites at them. When his mother comes to save him, they’re both captured and leashed by a man named Grey Beaver, who respects the wolves but shows little affection for them since he views them mostly as useful tools. White Fang has trouble fitting in because his wild wolf instincts bring him into conflict with the village’s domestic dogs. Grey Beaver teaches him to be a sled dog and encourages his ferocious behavior, which leads to a deadly fight between White Fang and the lead domestic dog.
White Fang is Damaged by Cruelty and Rescued by Kindness
When Grey Beaver takes White Fang with him to a trading post at Fork Yukon, he’s tricked into getting drunk and selling the wolf to a cruel White dogfighter named “Beauty” Smith. Smith beats the dog whenever he acts out and forces him to participate in brutal dogfights to make Smith money. He successfully defeats several wolves and dogs in the fights but almost dies during a battle with a bulldog. Nearly destroyed by the violence and cruelty of Smith and the dogfights, White Fang is rescued by a kindhearted man named Weedon Scott.
As opposed to “Beauty” Smith, who beat and forced him to participate in violent acts, and Grey Beaver, who respected but showed little compassion for him, Weedon Scott is White Fang’s first owner to show him consistent patience and kindness. By doing so, he’s able to break through the hard shell of hostility and mistrust the wolfdog’s built up due to the cruelty he’s experienced so far in his life.
Kindness Builds Trust, Heals Wounds, and Civilizes Animals and People
Scott’s kindness sparks a major transformation in White Fang’s personality and behavior. Instead of the hostile resistance he showed towards other humans and dogs before, he comes to trust Scott so much that he escapes the cabin where he was recovering and rushes to find Scott before he returns to California. Scott, in turn, has become so fond of White Fang that he brings the wolfdog with him to San Francisco.
White Fang is unsure of how to behave in San Francisco since the city’s society seems less hostile than many of the places he used to live in the Yukon tended to be. He eventually understands that the defensive nature he built up to survive in the Yukon isn’t necessary for him to survive in San Francisco, so he becomes more trusting towards humans and other animals. While he does have to resort to violence once more to protect his new owner, White Fang slowly integrates into San Francisco’s “tame” society.
What White Fang Teaches Us About Violence and Kindness
An interesting reversal of London’s The Call of the Wild (1903), White Fang shows how a wild animal becomes domesticated into human society. By contrasting White Fang’s often violent, alienating experiences in the Yukon wilderness and gold camps with his more pleasant ones in San Francisco, London suggests that the suppression of violence is necessary for civilization and domestication. The violent methods White Fang and others use to survive in the harsher Yukon environment aren’t necessarily the best tools to navigate the softer San Francisco one. Still, even San Francisco hasn’t eliminated the need to use violence to protect what someone cares about.
London shows the effects that violence and kindness can have on animals and humans. Violence and cruelty can warp an animal or person into showing violence in return, but an animal or person doesn’t have to be destroyed by those things. Kindness like Weedon Scott shows towards White Fang can also transform an animal or person for the better. Though sometimes violence may be necessary to protect oneself or ensure one’s survival, it’s not the only way to survive; kindness is also essential since it can heal the soul and form strong communal bonds.
Final Thoughts
It’s no wonder why White Fang remains so popular over a century after its release. The story of an animal who survives against nearly impossible odds will pull readers in. They’ll feel bad for White Fang when he’s poorly treated by humans and other animals, but they’ll also be deeply moved by his redemption arc.
Readers will not only be mesmerized by London’s natural style and strong storytelling but also be pondering the ways a society’s violence or kindness can transform any outsider who enters it. If you’re looking for an exciting canine adventure story with deep themes, you should answer the call of the wild by reading White Fang.
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