Description
Jack London is one of the greatest masters of adventure stories in world literature. In White Fang he chose a beautiful, wolf-dog crossbreed to be his protagonist and to serve as the medium through which he describes the savagery, the cruelty and at the same time the beauty of life in the wilderness of the Yukon Territory during the Klondike Gold Rush in the 1890s. The novel describes White Fangs journey towards becoming a tame and obedient dog and the difficulties of conquering his wild and indomitable nature. The story is presented through the perspective of the dog, thus providing the author the opportunity to explore new ways of looking at humans and interpreting their behavior. The world of dogs and wolves is not less wild than the world of humans and both raise complex questions and throw obstacles in front of the protagonist. White Fang has a very harsh life from the minute he is born. He participates in conflicts and vicious fights in the wilderness and life does not become easier for him when he is adopted by humans either. He eventually runs away to return to the wilderness, but then he is sold as a fighter dog and participates in several vicious and bloody fights. He is then bought by a man who attempts to domesticate him his attempts are successful, but a lot more hardships are in store for White Fang before he can finally relax. White Fang is not only a captivating story for young and adult readers alike it is also a story with lots of autobiographical elements and a book that raises numerous philosophical questions as well. It is an extremely rich and dense text that has numerous adaptations for the small and the big screen alike and that continues to fascinate readers and viewers of all ages even today.