Human and Animal Interrelationships from Domestication to Present Book Report Guidelines - Essay Example

Buck has lived with the Millers’ since his birth, a factor that explains why he is very close to the children and grandchildren of the judge. In that family, he received good nutrition and care (London 12). He was a leader in taking care of the Millers’ house. However, in the same house, he met a gardener, Manuel, who eventually gave him up to the people travelling to the north in search of gold. These people needed dogs to pull sleds of their luggage as they travelled. After Buck became the property of a new owner, he received a thorough beating until he lost consciousness.

After a long journey, and starving long, they got to Seattle. The torture through beating and hunger had made him overly furious, prompting him to make an inner determination that he would never allow his new masters to tie him with a rope. His new master in Seattle hit Buck with a club, a level of violence he had not experienced in his previous life (14). Apparently, in this chapter, there is a transition of the relationship between Buck and human beings. At the beginning, the dog finds a measure of pleasure in living with people.

However, the friendly relationship with humans ceases when he gets into the hands of the men heading north. These people have little concern for the dignity of animals, and they torture and starve the dog. In addition, his new master in Seattle hits Buck with a club to the level of submission. As the relationship changes, Buck’s attitude towards human beings changes because he begins to realize that humans can be his enemies. This change arouses other attributes as he adjusts to the new life.

Chapter 2 In chapter two, the author describes the new situations that define Buck’s new life. One of the shocking events that he witnesses was the death of Curly, after an attack by fellow dogs. Buck begins to learn the skill of pulling sled alongside other dogs (17). Contrary to his life before, he realizes the need to eat fast and even to steal more food. He does not seem to understand why the other dogs have the willingness to work wholeheartedly. Contrary to his former home at Judge Miller’s, Buck does not find a comfortable place to spend his night because of the northern snowy conditions.

Buck had to readjust to the new conditions in multiple ways. He had to abandon his old lifestyle in a civilized world, and bring out his wild nature. With the changing conditions, the relationship of humans and the dogs has to change. He brought back to memory his instinctive nature previously exhibited by his ancestors. He had started to live in a primitive world where only the strong ones could survive amidst harsh working conditions defined by the whip and the club. The relationship between the dogs and the people only keeps getting worse.

To his surprise, Buck also realizes that even dogs were their own enemies as it became evident in the case of Curly. Chapter 3 Chapter three of the book concentrates on describing the rivalry existing between Buck and Spitz. Apparently, Spitz is the leader of the pack of several dogs pulling sled in northern snow and throughout the entire journey (22). The rivalry between Spitz and Buck advances as Buck uses his wit by ganging up with the weaker dogs in a bid to demonstrate