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Call of the Wild Chapter 7 Summary
The money Buck wins for him enables Thornton to pay off some debts and journey with his partners in search of a fabled lost gold mine that no living man has ever found. They travel east on an unknown trail. Buck leads a team of six dogs 70 miles up the Yukon. Buck is very happy as they trek through the wilderness, fishing, hunting and unthinking of time.
For two years they wander, seeking an ancient cabin and a mythical mine. They never find the mine, but in the spring of the second year they find a “shallow place in a broad valley where the gold showed like yellow butter across the bottom of the washing-pan.”
With little work to do, Buck spends his days by the fire, dreaming once more of that ancient man. In his mind he wanders in this early, undefined world. Buck rightly hears an ancient call deep in the forest. Sometimes he searches for it, sometimes he hears it, springs from his place and runs wild through the forest. One night he hears it more clearly than ever before. He goes into the forest and sees a timber wolf. Wishing to make friends, Buck approaches; but the wolf is afraid of this beast three times his size and flees. Several times this meeting is repeated, until finally the wolf understands Buck’s intentions, and they sniff noses.
For two days he does not leave, but then he hears once more the call of the forest. He starts to wander in the woods, and stays away from the camp for days at a time, hunting and fishing for his food. He exhibits a wild, wolf-like cunning. As a fearsome hunter, he kills a moose by separating it from the herd and remorselessly pursuing and attacking it. He shows great patience and ferocity. It takes him four days to pull the moose down.
When he returns to Thornton’s camp, he finds it has been overrun by Yeehat Indians. The Yeehats are gleefully dancing. Three miles out he sees a fresh trail, and he becomes more cautious. Suddenly he comes across the body of Nig, an arrow sticking from his head. He passes the dog almost dead, and then he passes the body of Hans. He sees Yeehat Indians dancing around the wreckage of the camp.
Buck leaps at the Indians, ripping open the throat of the chief, and keeps killing until the rest of the tribe runs away in terror. For a few moments, Buck pursues them, killing a few more as they attempt to flee. Buck sees Pete’s body, and then he follows the scent to the lake, where he knows John Thornton’s body lies. Skeet, loyal to the end, lies dead just by the lake. Buck sits and contemplates the ache in his heart. He feels a bit better only when he looks at the bodies of the men he has killed. He realizes that men are no match for dogs without their arrows, clubs and spears.
For years Buck runs in the wild as a wolf. The Yeehats say a Ghost Dog that runs at the head of the pack, and they are afraid of him. They know he continues on occasion to kill human hunters. They do not enter the valley where he lives.
Call of the Wild Chapter 7 Summary Word Meaning
- Abiding – Unceasing
- Asunder – Into parts or pieces
- Certitude – Complete assurance or confidence
- Cessation – A stopping
- Desolate – Providing no shelter or sustenance
- Flank – The side between ribs and hipbone
- Frenzy – State of violent, mental agitation
- Gorge – A deep ravine, usually with a river running through it
- Incarnate – Possessing or existing in bodily form
- Infinitesimal – Immeasurably small
- Intent – An anticipated outcome that guides your planned actions
- Melancholy – A constitutional tendency to be gloomy and depressed
- Obliterated – Reduced to nothingness
- Overture – Orchestral music at the beginning of an opera
- Prowess – A superior skill learned by study and practice
Call of the Wild Chapter 7 Summary Questions and Answers
Question 1.
What changes do the Yeehats notice the timber wolf?
Answer:
Buck dashes through the woods and finds a timber wolf, one-third of his size. Buck joins the wolf pack and the Yeehats notice a difference in the local breed. In the beginning the wolf is afraid, but later on, the two show their friendship by sniffing noses.
Question 2.
What advantage did Buck have when he killed the bear?
Answer:
Buck kills a bear and fishes for salmon the river; when the moose comes in the fall. Buck is not alone in the wild, he finds companionship, and the advantage is that he has learnt that he will not fear men. He found Hal and Thornton in trouble. Buck mourns his dead master, but feels pride at having killed the Yeehats.
Question 3.
What are the two identities of Buck as shown in Chapter 7?
Answer:
Buck has two identities as shown in chapter 7, one as a sled dog in Thornton’s camp, another as a wild hunter in the forest. He kills a bear and fishes for salmon in the river. He cuts a bull away from’ the pack to kill him and finally brings him down after fou todays. Then he heads back to the camp.
Question 4.
Show with references drawn from the text how Buck balances his love for Thornton with his more primitive self.
Answer:
Buck has a deep love for John Thornton. Buck’s instincts and connections to his primitive side draw him toward the forest. Buck does not want to let him out of his sight and the latter is rescued by the former. Thornton also looks after Buck and cares for him as if he was his own child. In the text, it is stated that Thornton had a way of taking Buck’s head roughly between his hands and resting his own head upon Buck’s. Buck felt joy in return for the love and care he received. Buck demonstrates his loyalty and love by being willing to do whatever John Thornton asks of him.
Question 5.
What is the legend of the Ghost Dog that is told among the Yeehats?
Answer:
Buck’s story morphs into legend as the Yeechats tell of a mythical Ghost Dog, who terrorizes the valley’s natives and hunters. But apart from the Indian legend the narrator tells us that there is a handsome wolf that roams, sometimes alone, sometimes at the head of the pack, singing the “Song of the younger world,” and who fathers many wolf cubs. Buck’s legacy affirms his masterful spirit. Buck seems to have cheated death by being immortalized in the legend.
Question 6.
What proves that Thornton is a successful miner?
Answer:
John Thornton’s pursuit of the lost place in the wilderness alludes to his yearning to tame the wild for profit. Finding the mine may lead to richness. But the simple way that Thornton lives proves that he is already a master of out doors and a successful miner. When Thornton and his team; i.e., Buck, Skeet, Nig, Hans and Pete, fail to find the site, they end up planning for gold in a shallow river valley.
Extract Based Questions
Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
And closely akin to the visions of the hairy man was the call still sounding in the depths of the forest. It filled him with a great unrest and strange desires. It caused him to feel a vague, sweet gladness, and he was aware of wild yearnings and stirrings for he knew not what.
(i) What happens when Buck begins to feel the call of the wild in “the Call of the Wild” by Jack London?
(ii) What is the call of the wild?
(iii) What are some symbols in the call of the wild?
(iv) Why did the pack of wolves fling forward ?
(v) Who does Buck see in his dreams?
Answer:
(i) When Buck first hears the call of the wild in the night, he springs to his feet and runs in the direction of the sound plunging into the foreit; he goes so far, however he hears the howling of the wolves; a wolf who later becomes his “brother” wolf.
(ii) The call of the wild is Buck’s primordial desire to embrace his primitive nature, which he experiences when . he enters the wilderness of Alaska. Buck, who is a domesticated dog living a carefree life, possesses special traits. Buck makes friends with a wolf and almost takes off for the wild.
(iii) A symbol is something that stands for something other than itself. One of the symbols in the story is the club. For Buck, the club is a symbol of man’s power over animals. We see the symbols of the red shirt, which stands for anger. Traces and harness symbolize Buck’s role as a servant to his masters.
(iv) The wolf pack is awed by the largeness of Buck. Like a flash, Buck struck, breaking the neck of the wolf. Three others tried it in sharp succession and one after the other they drew back. This was enough for the whole wolf pack to fling forward.
(v) The author Jack London describes that, Buck sees a short legged hairy man in his dreams. Buck has a recurring dream of his distant ancestors. These dreams become more prominent and vivid as the story progresses indicating Buck’s transformation back into a more wild creature.
Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
As the fall of the year came on, the moose appeared in greater abundance, moving slowly down to meet the winter in the lower and less rigorous valleys. Buck had already dragged down a stray part grown calf; but he wished strongly for larger and more formidable quarry.
(i) What does Buck find when he returns to the camp after killing the moose?
(ii) What do the Yeehats see in Buck?
(iii) What does Buck prove in this chapter?
(iv) What do the wolves do and see during the long winter nights?
(v) Explain the title “The Call of the Wild”.
Answer:
(i) In Jack London’s ‘The Call of the Wild’, when Buck returns from his moose hunt, he does not find his beloved master, John Thornton and everyone else, including his dog friends. They are all dead, in fact killed by the robbers. Buck had been away from the camp for quite a while. Thornton has abandoned Buck.
(ii) The Yeehats saw a great evil spirit in Buck. One man even throws a spear to hit him and ends up killing another man. They have never seen an animal like this before. Finally, they are convinced that it must be an evil spirit, because no animal could do what Buck did. They run awav to save their lives.
(iii) In chapter 7, it is proved that how, thoroughly, Buck became a creature of deep loyalty and admiration to a man fully deserving this devotion. Buck shows that human life is really just a long struggle for mastery and the greatest man will always seek out successfully. Buck’s vivid vision of the encounter with the wolf show that Buck’s wild yearnings had strengthened.
(iv) During the long winter nights the wolves go to the lower valleys for their meat. Buck may be seen running at the head of the pack through the pale moonlight; leaping above his fellows, his great throat bellowing as he sings the song of the pack.
(v) Buck changes from a civilized house dog to a wild beast. He is constantly hearing voices and seeing visions of his ancestors. By the end of the book, Buck has successfully achieved the call of the wild. Buck repeatedly feels the mysterious force telling him that what he really needs to do is leave his current domestic life and hunt things.