In Call of the Wild by Jack London, there is a lot of anthropomorphism (assigning human characteristics to animals) used within the story. London does a wonderful job of expressing his views through this exceptional way of writing while at the same time, he tells a detailed story of the life of Buck. As London writes the story, he explains all the dogs as if they were humans. Buck, in this way, is the main character, and London shows Buck's feelings just as if he were one of us. Also, there are a few reasons why London uses anthropomorphism in this story.
To begin with, London uses this way of writing to show the main character, Buck who is a dog, along with all the other dogs in a more human-like way. For example, the very first sentence of the story writes, "Buck did not read the newspapers" (London 3). Therefore, London is leading the reader to believe that Buck is literate right off the bat, thus leading the reader to believe that Buck is human. Also, London writes much about Buck's strength and determination, like the time Buck fights for the leading position of the dog sledding pack. Along with the descriptions of Buck's strength, London provides us with information on Buck's relatives at the beginning of the story like many authors do when they are introducing the main characters, most often humans.
Next, the feelings and personalities of Buck are expressed in a humanlike manner. To start, London gives the reader a sense of an egotistical side in Buck. This is shown in many parts of the story. For instance, Buck wants to be the best in everything he does as shown when he ends up killing Spitz to become the leader of the pack. However, arrogance is not all that Buck is. In fact, he is a very dependable "person" to have around. He is very trustworthy, especially with John Thornton. He saves Thornton's life, twice to be exact and never lets his owner(s) down. After all, he has to be able to live with many kinds of owners, since he has had at least four.
