Jack London, The Call of the Wild

Susan Gatti (Indiana University of Pennsylvania)
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Jack London’s 1903 novel,

The Call of the Wild,

occupies a unique position in literary culture. Widely translated, this best-selling work resists easy classification. Best known as a robust adventure story featuring a once-pampered dog impressed into hard labor as a Klondike sled-dog,

The Call of the Wild

can be variously categorized as naturalism, social protest, historic saga, captivity tale, animal story and action-packed realism. The novel, strongly influenced by London’s reading of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer as well as his alignment with socialist thought, showcases three significant facets of literary production: awareness of social, political and economic realities; artistic representation of a discrete landscape during a particular historic moment; and grasp of the…

2557 words

Citation: Gatti, Susan. "The Call of the Wild". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 January 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1335, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1335 The Call of the Wild 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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