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摘 要

杰克·伦敦作为新兴商业杂志小说界的先锋，也是第一批享誉世界的小说家之一。《野性的呼唤》作为其最富盛名的小说之一，是狼性精神的集中体现。许多学者对狼性精神做了研究，但他们将重点放在回归野性这一视角而忽略了人类文明的意义。本文从巴克所表现出的适应性与智慧、耐力与忠诚、原始性与野性等几个方面阐释狼性精神。狼性精神对杰克·伦敦的职业生涯和品格形成具有重要意义，狼性精神为美国的生存发展和繁荣打下基础，狼性精神是人类文明的灵魂，也是文明进步所需的养分。综上所述，野性的回归，正是作者对积极美好的人性的呼唤，对健康原始野性生活的呼唤。本次研究旨在从积极的方面帮助人们建立美好的品格，并且找到人类文明和自然的平衡点。

关键词：《野性的呼唤》 巴克 狼性精神 重要性

1. Introduction

• 1.  Research background

John Griffith London (1876–1916), also named Jack London, is a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide fame and a large fortune from his fiction alone. London is part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of unionization, socialism, and the rights of workers. He writes several powerful works mostly featured with socialism and individualism. As a result of the sadness of his early experiences, most of his works describe the stories of the low class in the United States, thus exposing the evil and ugliness of the capital society.

The Call of the Wild, Jack London's most famous novel, revolves around the social prevailing gold rush. The novel describes the great struggle a dog performs in the particular environment. It is a process that the main "hero" Buck from civilized human society goes back to the primitive life--- wolves’ group. Touched by the cruel reality due to the influence of human civilization, Buck returns to natural instincts and awareness. Therefore, The Call of the Wild is a story of a dog ‘changing’ himself into a wolf.

Jack London pours too much ideal and praise on this dog and seems to have a stubborn preference for the wolf. Demonstrably, The Call of the Wild manifests the strong personality of the author himself. In the competition between man and nature, it celebrates the noble quality of bravery and inner power, tenaciousness and love. Jack London loves the wolf. In his view, perhaps civilization is a special kind of barbarism, another form of civilization. His sincere praise for the wolf is a deep reflection of his era when human civilization and human survival circumstances are a big concern.

Jack London’s love complex toward the wolf is closely concerned with his experiences. He earned his living as a child labor, salesperson, sailor, or worker panning for gold in Alaska. In Alaska, London found the material that inspired him to write The Call of the Wild. After he suffered from scurvy, he was engaged in writing. London got creative inspirations from all his experiences. So his style is marked with growth surroundings to the extent that he often described himself as a wolf. The wolf he wrote is always brave, wise, unafraid as well as heroic, like a ‘superman’. Those amazing adventures and failures taught him that a strong body could be still beaten while a strong mind would help to be stronger both in flesh and spirit. As for him, the wolf is undoubtedly the strongest in nature. They are ferocious but ambitious, cunning but fearless. To call for the wolf spirit is to call for a strong vitality and the ideal human civilization, which is the focus of this thesis.

• 1. Need for the study

The entire novel seems to tell that it is reasonable to grab interests from others and even others’ lives, like Buck who tears the head dog up, then standing aside and looking indifferently at everything. People have the common sense that a wolf is full of wildness and ravening. But the wolves in Jack London’s works represent powerful vitality and the pursuit of primitive and fresh life forces. It is the spirit of the wolf as well as the spirit that London wants to advocate.

To some degree, the wolf spirit can positively help shape people’s moral fiber, for vitality, primitiveness and conquering are its essence. On the one hand, the wolf spirit is a deepened embodiment of active performance, beneficial to develop people’s attitudes, value and adaptability to the society. On the other hand, the wolf spirit that reveals the principle of survival of the fittest can matter a lot in workplaces. Furthermore, learning more contributes to the development of a nation, even beneficial to find the balance between human civilization and nature. But the most meaningful thing is that the primitive power manifested through the wolf spirit may arouse the whole nation and inspire the confidence and enterprising spirit of people. In the pursuit of the wolf spirit, people will understand the essence of life.

Some writing techniques in this novel deserve equal attention. Firstly, the themes are conveyed through symbols and images which vary in the different phases of the story. The characters are equally symbolic of types. Much of the imagery is stark and simple with an emphasis on cold, snow, ice, darkness, meat, and blood. The story was written as a frontier adventure and in such a way it worked well as a serial. In a word, these writing techniques can help us improve our academic research.

1. Literature review

Many scholars have done some research on The Call of the Wild in different aspects, most of whose academic studies focus on its central character and themes.

2.1 Previous studies on the central character

The Call of the Wild is set in Yukon, Canada during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush when strong sled dogs are in high demand. The central character Buck is stolen from a rich family, then fighting with other sled dogs and finally going back to the wild. Buck, a sled dog with strong wolf spirit, is the soul in this novel. Many scholars have analyzed the wolf spirit manifested in this central character from different perspectives.

According to Jiao Jianping (1999), it is highly commanded that Buck be a perfect creature in the view of Jack London: He is strong; he is a code hero in the north; he is as noble as human beings. Jiao considers Buck as the son of the wild, strong, fierce and arbitrary rather than an ordinary animal, which is the presentation of the wolf spirit. Lü Na (2012) reveals the cruelty of natural competition by studying in detail the process of Buck’s self-abandonment, self- germination and final self-construction. This is one of the wolf spirits in this novel that London pays attention to. Wang Guoli (2013) analyzes Buck’s characteristics in depth, pointing out that he abides by the law of survival of the fittest. He learns to sleep in the snow hole to get warmness from the cold nights; he learns to thief bacon and food from his masters and neighboring camps; he learns how to fight effectively and efficiently with his antagonists and survive of the combat about the dominant leader with Spitz (another sled dog in the novel). Wang notes that Buck is a cunning and cruel ‘ruler’ and he grows from a mild pet to a ferocious head dog. He becomes a ‘super dog’ no longer afraid of harsh reality and tries to challenge everything. He is the only king who indifferently looks down on the losers and death.

Negoro (2013) puts emphasis on the discussion of methods used in describing Buck. Buck is humanized with such human qualities as love, ambition, revenge, traits, etc, thus to show he is not just the child of the wild but also the child of human society. It is noteworthy that Negoro does not ignore the ingredients of human morality of Buck; Buck’s ‘thinking’ toward natural environment highlights his humanity. Therefore, the wolf spirit is more than the concept of wildness.

2.2 Previous studies on themes

The Call of the Wild is a story of survival and a return to primitivism. Some scholars attach importance to the conflict between nature and human civilization. Based on Darwin's concept of survival of the fittest, such conflict is enlarged. Jack London places Buck in conflict with humans, other dogs, and his environment—all of these he must challenge, survive, and conquer. He learns that the "club and the fang" is the law, that the law of the pack rules and a good-natured dog such as Curly (another sled dog in the novel) can be torn to pieces by pack members, and that survival by whatever means is paramount.

Yuan Ruijiao (2015) generalizes it from three perspectives, naturalism, capitalism and superman philosophy. She emphasizes the instinct and primitive desire of human living inspired by ruthless living struggle. Meanwhile, the law of survival of the fittest leads to the disappointment and indifference in the capitalist society. Furthermore, she mentions Nietzsche’s superman philosophy. Buck is such a ‘superman’, stronger, healthier and wiser, and overcomes obstacles, growing to the king of the pack, even of the wild. Buck’s wolf spirit is thoroughly shown in her study, and she sings highly of the animal magnetism of Buck’s wolf spirit. When life is exposed to nature, the morality of civilization is quite ironical and wildness is the essence of life.

From the angle of ecological criticism, Li Xuemin (2015) highlights the damage caused by human beings and the capitalist society to the ecological environment. If the balance between nature and human civilization is destroyed, returning to the wild would be inevitable. He gets a comprehension with an eye to the entire settings, rather than just the main character. Confronted with rapid commercial developments, people are gradually losing the ability to be ‘primitive’. When abusing resources and conquering the land become normal, greediness and selfishness will finally defeat the original lofty aim. The wolf spirit is much more significant than a noble quality, for it is a pursuit and aspiration.

Although numerous scholars have done a lot of discussions, they still focus on the perspective of human beings. Barbara Hardy (2012) discusses the domestication of Buck and the relationship among nature, human society and animals from the perspective of animals. There is a subtle tie among them, in which Buck as an animal runs from human civilization to nature. It seems to be a process of ‘degeneration’, but Buck’s return just indicates the final disillusion on the physical civilization and vulgar commercial era. Thus, to regain the wolf spirit is to rebuild a vibrant world.

2.3 Limitations on previous studies

It is clear that most scholars explore the themes of nature and civilization. However, previous studies put emphasis on the perspective of returning to the wild while ignoring the significance of civilization. This study will concentrate on the theme of the wolf spirit besides digging out the original beauty in humanity that used to disappear. It is not just the call of the wild but also the representation of the noble quality in humanity.

3. Manifestation of the Wolf Spirit

3.1 Adaptability and wisdom

Adaptability is the first manifestation of the wolf spirit performed by Buck. As one of the tops in the natural food chain, the wolf is undoubtedly the most successful animal. Over the past millions of years, they have not been extinct, or tamed under the law of the survival of the fittest; instead, this kind of wolf spirit makes great philosophical significance. Buck is so strong that he quickly adapts himself to the northland. He learns how to stop and go ahead with different signals; he learns to burry himself in the snow to keep warm; he learns the lesson that he stands no chance against a man with a club. He used to live the life of a sated aristocrat, but now he must eat as fast as he can in case that food is disappearing down the throats of others. He duplicates the performance of stealing, and this theft marks Buck as fit to survive in the hostile northland. All these mark his adaptability as well as his capacity to adjust himself to changing conditions, and it is also Buck’s first awakened wolf spirit.

Buck is as smart as human beings and his wisdom is another important part of the wolf spirit. Francois (Buck’s second master) says that Buck is characteristic of two devils. On the one hand, he learns to trick. In the competition for the head-dog, he always interferes between Spitz and the pack craftily when Francois is not around. He challenges Spitz's "authority", testing Francois’s bottom line, and wisely shifts responsibility to Spitz. He behaves like a sly man. Buck is personified, in other words, he grows as wise as people, which astonishes Francois. He understands how to think, how to make use of surroundings, and how to observe everything carefully and silently. He is no longer the southland watchdog. The club and whip and fang teach him that he should do more to avoid being beaten. Buck’s victory is beyond any doubt. On the other hand, he gets rid of the fastidiousness and luxurious habits, learning to survive the harsh environment and chase the prey. He learns to evade any danger. This positive image performed by Buck implies another aspect of amazing wisdom. He is not sunk by ugly and tough reality; instead he becomes stronger both in body and mentality. He is more wise than adaptive. It’s wisdom that in the face of cruel situations he can quickly protect himself; therefore, wisdom is another characteristic in Buck’s wolf spirit.

3.2 Endurance and loyalty

The description of Buck’s appearance is a highlight which reflects his endurance. His muscle becomes hard as iron. He can eat anything, no matter how loathsome or indigestible; and once eaten, the juices of his stomach extract the last least particle of nutriment, which becomes into the toughest and stoutest of tissues. His strong will is specified by his strong body, which directly motivates him to go ahead and fight for the leadership. He insists in standing in the lead place, showing no fear for the master’s club even when they curse him. The result is that the master is beaten by this stubborn guy. In Buck’s view, this lead place is supposed to be his and he has to guard it. He will bear it if he doesn’t deserve it. Once he is able to handle it, he will go for it without hesitation. He can wait patiently to accumulate strength and power under the table. Afterwards he will retaliate.

Loyalty is an equally important part of the wolf spirit and the most moving part in the novel. When Buck falls on evil days, Thornton’s rescue warms up his heart. It is the very inner fluctuation that represses Buck’s primal savagery and bloodlust. The call from the wild becomes more intense and the resonation with forefathers is so stronger that his yearning for the wilderness is growing accordingly. In this case, the only thing that Buck can feedback to Thornton is loyalty. He can jump off the cliff due to Thornton’s thoughtless order. He can rise up in the air as he leaves the floor for Burton’s throat because Burton abuses Thornton. Even he can start a sled with a thousand pounds and walk off with it for a hundred yards, just for earning Thornton’s face. In this period, Buck runs between the forest and the human society. One side is the home to the ancient ancestors in which this primitive power and the natural wolf spirit occupy his mind. The other is the kindness and love given by Thornton. Thornton’s death lifts up Buck’s loyalty, his anger and vent reaching the unprecedented height. So he avenges Thornton. The revenge is not only for Thornton, but also for the disillusion of the last humanity which supports Buck’s fantasy towards the human society, but now he has no ties on earth. Thus Buck can return to nature with nothing and becomes the head of the pack. It is the sublimation of Buck's image that makes this part so classic and touching. Buck's loyalty is a baptism of humanity as well as the sublimation of the wolf spirit.

3.3 Primitiveness and wildness

Primitiveness and wildness are the key implication and imply the most significant feature in Buck’s wolf spirit, standing for the essence of life. The club is a new discovery to Buck. It is an introduction to the reign of primitive law, and Buck meets this introduction halfway. He faces that fiercer aspect uncowed. But he faces it with all the latent cunning of his nature aroused. The fear for the trap indicates that he is harking back through his own life to the lives of his forebears. Actually, a lot of descriptions of Buck’s inner return have been discussed in the novel. In vague ways he remembers the forefathers ranging on the packs through the primeval forests. He remembers those wild dogs pointing their noses at the moon and howling like a wolf. He remembers the excitement of hunting and killing. It’s a piece of cake to send a fatal blow to the prey. Moreover, it is no task for him to learn to fight with cut and slash and quick wolf snap. These old tricks which they had stamped into the heredity of the breed are also Buck’s tricks. They come to him without any effort, although they have always been his. It is the instinct of the wolf, and so is of Buck.

Wildness and primitiveness are destined to be connected with Buck’s wolf spirit and they are the main point that the author wants to tell us. It seems to be a fate because men find a kind of yellow metal in the northland, and Manuel is just a gardener’s helper whose wages can not support his family. Therefore, Buck is stolen and sold here. In the constant lashes and running, Buck’s instinct of chasing and fighting comes round naturally. When howling long at the cold and dark sky like a wolf, he seems to see hid forefathers calling for the primitive life-force at a remote time. The return of the wildness and the burst of life-force is not an accident, but a certainty. The fire, which has abandoned the human civilization, and the primitive life connected with the wild, is a call of nature that has imprinted in the bone. At times, he spies the figure of forefathers in the bonfire, in the dreams, sometimes in the white light reflected by snow. The running speed, the mournful howling and the strong limbs in the moonlight, all those without exception wake Buck’s wolf spirit. Actually, this kind of wolf spirit is what the author calls for as it trails away in modern times.

4. Significance of the Wolf Spirit

4.1 To Jack London

The wolf spirit is of great importance to Jack London’s career and personality. When it comes to the wolf, the mind’s first reaction is ferocious and rapacious. However, this kind of wolf spirit is Jack London’s spiritual sustenance. In the novel, Buck becomes a sophisticated sled dog from a proud, simple, ignorant pet dog. In the face of apathy and cruelty of the human society, his "humanity" is in erosion. Fortunately, he responds to the call of the ancient, going back to the pack and finding his wildness. Compared with Jack London, it is not difficult to see the similarities between them. The poverty and sufferings in childhood, the Gold Rush Adventure in youth, the disease and pains, all these experiences manifested in Jack London’s the early works show his struggles against the social injustice, which is quite similar to Buck's struggles. Then Buck becomes a sled dog, gradually adapted to the harsh environment. While Jack London shows talent in literature, successfully transforming himself into a reporter and a world-renowned writer after the unfortunate childhood and the gold rush. This is also a similarity between London and Buck.

In general, Buck’s wolf spirit stands for London’s wish for the pursuit of inner liberation and original life-force, as well as a beautiful aspiration that people of that time could pursue such as the true self and spiritual values, rather than temporary material satiation. This kind of wolf spirit representing wisdom and adaptability, endurance and loyalty, wildness and primitiveness manifested in Buck is also the true reflection in the author himself. Jack London used to live in the slums, roaming around for a long time. Even under the poor condition, he could absorb the knowledge as much as possible. It precisely indicates his adaptability and extraordinary endurance. He could have happily continued his writing career. But he desired different exciting experiences and started the life as a reporter to chase the delight of adventures. Therefore, the wildness is obviously manifested in Jack London and he loves the freedom brought by the primitive life. Meanwhile, it is a kind of spiritual realm that London advocates.

4.2 To the American nation

The wolf spirit does not only mean the individual pursuit but also the basis of a country's survival and prosperity. The novel is set in the Great Depression of the United States. After the civil war, the United States became the most industrialized country, and domestic industrialization was in high spirits. Labors were in great demand in the manufacturing industry. Farmers left the land, on which forefathers have labored, lived and multiplied, pouring into the city to be the workers. Precisely, Buck’s experience of abduction is a real reflection of social reality. However, there is always a big difference between the ideal and reality. Expansion under the economy of capitalist system, capitalists in the pursuit of maximum interests continued to oppress workers, who were like buck, suffering the loss of land in silence under the law of club and fang. But unlike Buck, they were unable to struggle against those capitalists. Or in other words, they didn’t realize how to struggle for their own rights. They lacked wisdom of changing the poor conditions. They had no perseverance to earn what they wanted. They lived like a walking dead, for the whole country was keen on pursuing physical lavish. So, Jack London with many ambitious people made efforts to overthrow the disturbing situation.

In The Call of the Wild, Jack London confers buck with the wolf spirit. It expresses that when humanity is gradually corroded by money in the materialistic society, people should not abandon the motivation of fighting as well as self-worth. If a nation is steeped in self expansion and lives on the pursuit of physical joy, the nation will be a sailing ship in waves and darkness, displaced, losing the direction, and thus ultimately sinking into the deep. A nation needs a kind of primitive power to develop. This kind of primitive power originates from nature, and the wolf spirit is the outcome of nature. Therefore, the wolf spirit is contributed to a nation’s prosperity.

4.3 To human civilization

The wolf spirit is the soul in human civilization and the nutrition for civilization advancement. There is an impressive scene in the novel. Buck crouches in the snow, blinking dreamily at the flames. He seems to blink at another flame, crouching in another snow-land. He sees another group of men who are shorter of legs and longer of arms. Those strange men are very much afraid of fire. Meanwhile, they don’t leave. Actually, they are ancient men. The human civilization starts from the fire, which enlightens the knowledge of light. From the pack to the city, people expand the scope of activities step by step, which means the forests are cut and destroyed. Does it indicate that the civilization is losing its original pure land under the industrial pollution? Or does it indicate that the brilliance of humanity is becoming sordid? The answer is not absolute. In fact, human civilization is indeed developing and the society is indeed advancing. But this type of development and advancement is processing in an unhealthy way. It is temporary and remains stagnant finally. A civilization without the soul will shrink inside though it expands outside. The very soul is the essence of life---wildness and primitiveness.

It has mentioned many times that Buck regularly hears a nocturnal song, a weird and eerie chant, which Buck delights to join. This song contains the defiance of life, with long-drawn wailing and half sobs, and is more the pleading of life, the articulate travail of existence. Buck is strangely touched. Buck’s howling is also with the pain of living that is of the old the pain of his wild ancestors, who were not tamed by anyone. It is the pain of developing civilization, tamed, compromising but rapacious. The transformation of Buck reflects the wolf spirit that is the nutrition and primitive life-force needed in modern civilization, positive and unabashed. It is the defects of developing human civilization that contrast the precious brilliance in the wolf spirit.

5. Conclusion

The wolf spirit runs through the entire novel. As discussed specifically in Chapter Three, the wolf spirit is manifested in Buck’s adaptability and wisdom, endurance and loyalty, primitiveness and wildness. Chapter Four outlines the significance of the wolf spirit to the author himself, to the American nation and to the human civilization. Previous studies ignore the significance of the wolf spirit to human society; however, both nature and human civilization need it.

5.1 Call of the wild and return to nature

What’s on earth the call of the wild? At the end of the novel, instead of giving a clear answer, London just finishes the story with the scene of Buck’s return. Throughout the novel, it is both external and internal factors that lead to Buck’s growth. The tough environment in the northland, the law of club and fang from the man with a red sweater, Spitz’s threats, his young momentum, all these bring him much suffering. Instinctively, he can gain the resonation in a sound of sorrow howl. The call of the wild is the call of instinct, which has survived the generations. Meeting with Thornton is a beautiful but short episode, but the episode will never change the main melody. Thornton’s death cuts off the only relation between Buck and the human society. His wolf spirit fully bursts out, and returning to the nature becomes a necessity.

It is undoubtedly that Buck will go back to the wild in that the rule of money in human society and the cruel indifference depress Buck. In the beginning, he feels angry for being stolen and sold. He bites and roars in the face of club. It is the instinct. Though he learns the law of living, he always makes many attempts. In this period, Buck grows rapidly; the wolf spirit born with him gradually appears. He is wise and brave. His wildness is aroused by his experience and environment. His loyalty also gradually behaves in human society. Buck’s behavior of fighting for the leadership sets the stage for growing up to the leader-wolf in the future.

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