My Call of the Wild

------ Enlightenment of The Call of the Wild

" He sings a song of the younger world, which is the song of the pack." (Chapter VII The Sounding of the Wild) When the last sentence vanished from my eyes, I can still perceive an echo of a song - a wild song, which knocks up my dizzy mind that always cheerfully sink into the so-called civilized world without questioning. Wild, is no longer a symbol of the law of jungle but a headspring where streams out love, passion, bravery, loyalty, friendship, venture, competition and tolerance all these virtues can easily be found in the Call of the Wild.

Jack London (1876-1916) is a worldwide renowned novelist. His stories successfully reflect the contradictory views of man’s nature and destiny in and against the wild, and his "fight to survive" notion has gained him and his works timeless popularity, particularly, the Call of the Wild

It tells a story of a gigantic dog, named Buck, who is stolen from a rich and comfortable home and forced to learn to survive as an Alaskan sled dog. Buck, at first, is too savage for the company of man until he coincidently encounters his beloved master-kindhearted John Thornton. Finally, John’s incidental death breaks Buck’s last tie to the man and drives him into his long-desired wild with his pack. In the story, Buck and John simply adopt themselves to answer the call of the wild. When it comes to Buck’s mind that one day he will eventually leave John- his master, all he wants to do is just to help him finish the gold-rush-trip. He " from then on, night and day, never put a halt, in desperation, he burst into long stretch of flight, did not to stay him (John)…" (Chapter VII The Sounding of The Wild) Buck wished to remember John’s image forever, he "for two days and nights never left camp, never let Thornton out of his sight. He followed him about at his work, watched him while saw him into blankets at night and out of them in the morning…" (Chapter VII) When I read these words I just could not hold my tears bursting. Can a real man devote himself to loyalty and friendship in such a way? On the other hand, John Thornton is not only a dog-lover but also a brave and venturous man. He is so straightforward and simple that makes him an accommodating man. Once he firmly roots a goal into his heart, it seems that nothing could prevent him from accomplishing it except death. I do not know whether the persistence is the most vital element to make a man successful, but what I know is that you are not far away from success once you occupy it.

It is Jack London who plunges me into the animated wild from the hustle-and-bustle and from desperate city. There, I merely cannot deny the attraction of Buck’s bark, which enlightens me to pursue another lost half of the nature in mankind, and to dig out a true meaning of life. Dare we imagine that London intentionally employs Buck to set us a model with perfect characters (count barbarity out)? The answer is affirmed. We, as animals, are from the wild but shedding off more and more wild signs, which demonstrate us as the "uncivilized". However, who can fully guarantee that we have not overlooked some essential wild-endowed virtues? Especially, nowadays, it seems more crucial for us to stop looking at the post-industrialized world and to ponder for a while. When cheats, betrayals, lies, lusts and crimes stuff a materialized society, whether London uses this novel to help himself escape the reality or warn the earthy people, to us, modern man, is all the same. It appears horrible that in modern society many people are enthusiastically talking about how to build up "special relations" to the authority, deceiving and lying to each other. To them life is a mask-wearing process rather than a hard work. Every time, you browse WebPages, scandals in politics, business, the entertainment circle and even on campus crowd into your eyes. Oh, what is the essence of human beings? What is the civilization to us? Do we need to look back at where we came from? Is it good or bad for us to speak out what we think and to do what the consciences demand us to? Are we wasting talents given by the mighty nature? Be an honest, straightforward, warmhearted, emotional and responsible man or be a shrewd, cold hearted and astute hypocrite? While embracing the "civilized" rubbish, we are losing those good virtues, which are the calls of the wild. Once we lose them, we are to lose ourselves, and we will get nowhere. I wish this dreadful thought is totally a fallacy, but, now, it is chilling me hard. One day when I happen to stand on the top of a grand mountain to observe a boundless prairie enveloped by the sapphire firmament and combed by gusts of the rhythmical west wind, a morning sun sprinkles me her warmth and brilliance in a graceful way, however, at that moment, I am afraid that I cannot appreciate these beauties, I am a lost " civilized man" then.

Please, please do not let come true while we are still able to answer the call of the wild.