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Call of the Wild Chapter 2 Summary
On Buck’s first day on the Dyea beach, he understands that he has been taken from civilization into a wild, primitive place. Buck’s travelling companion, named Curly, is killed simply for trying to make friendly advances towards a husky dog only half her size. The rest of the dogs in the camp attack and kill Curly when she does not rise. Buck realizes that to survive in this world, he should never go down in a fight. Buck hates Spitz as the latter is a dominating dog.
Francois ties Buck into a harness and sets him to work. Buck has seen horses performing such labour before. He tries his best, responding to Francois’s whip and the nips of Dave. Buck learns quickly and makes good progress. ‘ He learns to stop at “ho” and to move at “mush,” and how to turn and move downhill.
Two more dogs, Billie and Joe, are added to the team. They are both huskies and are brothers. Billie is excessively good-natured, while Joe is sour. Soon another husky, Sol-leks, arrives. He is an old husky with one eye, and he does not like to be approached from his blind side. Buck accidently approaches him from that side once and gets his shoulder slashed. He learns quickly not to repeat the mistake.
That night, Buck had trouble finding a place to sleep. After wandering around the camp, he comes across Billie buried in the snow and proceeds to make his own hole and fall asleep instantly. When he awakes, he forces his way out of the snow. Perrault and Francois are very glad to have Buck. Every night in the camp, Buck is exhausted. He is bigger than the other dogs, and though he receives a larger ration, he never feels satisfied.
He imitates Pike, a new dog, by stealing a whole chunk of bacon and another weaker dog is punished in his place. Buck is placed between Dave and Solleks to receive instruction from them. He also learns to steal; his old morals, learned in Judge Miller’s sunny home, gradually slip away. Old urges and instincts, which belonged to his wild ancestors, begin to assert themselves.
Call of the Wild Chapter 2 Summary Word Meaning
- Peril – A state of danger involving risk
- Imperative – Requiring attention or action
- Vicarious – Experienced at secondhand
- Intent – An anticipated outcome that guides your planned actions
- Antagonist – Someone who offers opposition
- Reproof – An act or expression of criticism and censure
- Introspective – Given to examining own sensory and perceptual experiences.
- Perpetual – Continuing forever or indefinitely
- Malignant – Dangerous to health
- Appeasement – The act of acceding to demands
- Writhe: Move in a twisting or contorted motion
- Belligerent – Characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight
- Forego – Do without or cease to hold or adhere to
- Gaunt – Very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold
- Indiscretion – The trait of being injudicious
- Consternation – Sudden shock or dismay that causes confusion
- Forlorn – Marked by or showing hopelessness
- Arduous – Characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion
Call of the Wild Chapter 2 Summary Questions and Answers
Question 1.
What are the “laws of club and fang” Buck learns in chapter 2? How are these laws different from what Buck was used to?
Answer:
The man in the red sweater taught him the laws of clubs and fang. When several clubs were broken over Buck to get him obey, this was the law of club. The law of fang that Buck learnt was as he approached a sled dog from it’s blind side and was bitten. Buck was used to having a domesticated life; he gets as much food he wants. Now he gets raw fish, he’s alone and he is wUd.
Question 2.
What lesson does Buck learn about surviving in cold winter nights?
Answer:
In chapter 2, Buck experiences his first night in the harsh winter environment of the Canadian wilderness. Buck initially attempts to sleep on top of the snow but cannot withstand the coldwind. He digs a hole under the snow and curls up into a ball. Thus, Buck learnt and developed important survival skills.
Question 3.
What were the changes that came about in Buck over the course of the journey?
Answer:
Buck gradually becomes reconnected with his true identity over the course of the journey. Buck has lost over thirty five pounds. More often it had to do with luck; a major environmental change. Although his early life on the ranch was blissfully happy and carefree.
Question 4.
If you were Buck, which of the other sled dogs would you choose to be your teacher and why?
Answer:
If I was Buck, I would go for the current Alpha dog, Spitz, to be my teacher. That was really the only dog position that Buck wants. Moreover, Spitz was more ruthless than Francois. He has to be in the dog world. Unlike Francois, Spitz is not fair but like Francois, he is experienced and knows the ropes of the wild.
Question 5.
How are Spitz and Curly different from each other?
Answer:
Spitz is an experienced and clever Husky. Spitz is the original lead dog of Buck’s dogsled team. He fears and hates Buck, whom he sees as a rival. He is eventually killed by Buck in a fight for leadership. Curly is a sweet new found land dog, one of Buck’s first companions, after he has been kidnapped. She is unexpectedly killed for trying to make friendly advances towards another dog.
Extract Based Questions
Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Spitz was the leader, likewise experienced, and while he could not always get at Buck, he growled sharp reproof now and again, or cunningly threw his weight in the traces to jerk Buck into the way he should go.
(i) How did Curly die?
(ii) What does the death of Curly teach Buck in ‘The Call of the Wild’?
(iii) Why does Buck hate Spitz? Who teaches Buck how to pull a sled?
(iv) Was there any warning of the attack?
(v) What were the positions of Buck, Dave and Spitz in the harness?
Answer:
(i) Curly is killed simply for trying to pet a husky dog. The dog was vicious and began to attack her face. She was trying to protect her face. The rest of the dogs in the camp attack and kill Curly when she does not rise.
(ii) When Curly dies, Buck gets his second important lesson of how to survive in this wilder environment that he has been put in. It also teaches him about the “Law of Club and Fang”. Well, he would see to it that he never went down.
(iii) In chapter 2, Buck hates Spitz for laughing at and participating in Curly’s death. Buck hated Spitz with a bitter and deathless hatred. Francois fastens Buck into a harness and sets him to work hauling sled.
(iv) There was no warning of the attack, only a leap in like a flash; a metallic snap of teeth, and a leap out that was equally swift.
(v) Dave, -an experienced wheeler, nips at Buck, whenever he is making mistakes. Spitz growls from his front post and also refuses to leave the harness preferring to die pulling the sled. The author Jack London, has very well stated the incidents.
Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
And not only did he learn by experience, but instincts long dead became alive again. The domesticated generations fell from him. In vague ways he remembered back to the youth of the breed, to the time the wild dogs ranged in packs through the primeval forest and killed their meat as they ran it down.
(i) How did the dogs keep warm in the snow?
(ii) What was Buck made to learn? And how?
(iii) How was Perrault saved from drowning each time he went into the ice?
(iv) What problem did Buck face that night ?
(v) What were the changes that came about in Buck over the course of the journey?
Answer:
(i) Chapter 2 states that, the sled dogs dug a hole under the snow to stay warm. At times the dogs tried to enter the tent but they were chased out. Keeping themselves in burrows and their thick fur kept them warm through the frigid nights. This was an important survival skill.
(ii) Buck was hitched between Dave and Sol-leks on the sled-dog team, so that he could learn. This worked and Buck learnt through instinct, besides experience. Francois and Perrault were fair enough and guided the sled, which helped Buck to learn easily.
(iii) In chapter 2, a dozen times, Perrault, nosing the way broke through the ice bridges. He was saved by the long pole he always carried with him. Perrault climbed the cliff with the help of the pole as if by a miracle.
(iv) That night Buck faced the great problem of sleeping out in the cold. When he entered the tent, Perrault and Francois attacked him with curses and cooking utensils, till he fled.
(v) Buck is bigger than other dogs, so is never content. He imitates Pike, a new dog, by stealing a whole chunk of bacon. In this way he learns to steal; his old morals learned in Judge Miller’s sunny home, gradually slip away.
Question 3.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
It was all well enough in the Southland under the law of love and fellowship, to respect private property and personal feelings; but in the Northland, under the law of Club and Fang, whoso took such things into account was a fool, and
in so far as he observed them he would fail to prosper.
(i) Give the reference from where the above extract has been taken.
(ii) What are the laws of “Club and Fang,” that Buck learned?
(iii) What law rules life in the Southland?
(iv) What difficulties did Perrault face in climbing the cliff?
(v) What physical change does Buck experience from living in the Northland?
Answer:
(i) The above extract has been taken from chapter 2 “The law of Club and Fang” of the Novel ‘The Call of the Wild’, written by Jack London. In this chapter, we come to know, how Buck adapts himself to the environment though he faces some difficulties also.
(ii) The “Law” i.e. “the Law of Club and Fang”, signifies the two most important factors for survival in the Northland. Buck understands that the ability to avoid armed men and ability to defend himself from other animals is necessary.
(iii) The above extract states the law of Love and fellowship rules life in the Southland, which is in contrast with the law of Club and Fang, which rules in the Northland.
(iv) The rim ice broke away before and behind, and there was no escape except to go up the cliff. Perrault climbed the cliff, and with every last bit of harness stretched into a long rope, the dogs were hoisted to the top of the cliff.
(v) Buck’s sense of sight and scent became keen, his muscles develop, he learns to tolerate pain, he develops _ ability to scent the wind, and he digests all the nutrients of his food.
Question 4.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
A warning snarl told him that the trespasser was Spitz. Till now Buck had avoided trouble with his enemy, but this was too much. The beast in him roared. He sprang upon Spitz with a fury which surprised them both, and Spitz particularly; for his whole experience with Buck had gone to teach him that his rival was an unusually timid dog, who managed to hold on his own, only because of his great weight and size.
(i) Why did Buck attack Spitz? What was the nature of the relationship that existed between Buck and Spitz?
(ii) Where did their masters decide to make camp? Describe the weather conditions at the time.
(iii) Briefly describe the unexpected happening which distracted the dogs and their masters just then.
(iv) What do you learn about Spitz’s character from his actions during the ‘unexpected happening’?
(v) What was the condition of the camp when the dogs returned at daybreak? To what extent is Buck’s behaviour guided by his instinct to survive?
Answer:
(i) Buck started hating Spitz, when Spitz laughed at Curly’s death. Buck would show no patience when it came to Spitz. Spitz occupied Buck’s snug and warm place, when Buck returned, he sprang upon Spitz. Buck refuses to give it to Spitz eventually killing him.
(ii) The masters decided to make a camp at the mouth of the white river. The ice was soon to melt above the hills.The weather was not safe for animals and the team.
(iii) Thornton rapped Hal’s knuckles. Suddenly a whole section of ice gave way and both the dogs and the humans disappeared. This unexpected happening distracted the dogs and their masters. Even Buck sprang upon Spitz.
(iv) Spitz- Buck’s archrival and the original leader of Francois’s dog team, is a fierce animal- a “devil-dog”. One man calls on him who is used to fight with other dogs and win. He meets his match in Buck, who is as strong as Spitz.
(v) At day break, when the dogs limped back to the camp, the intruders had left and the men were in a bad temper. Half their food was gone. The wild dogs had chewed through the sledge lashings and canvas coverings. In fact, nothing, no matter how remotely edible, had escaped them.