The Call of the Wild is quite different compared to the other books that we have read so far this year in Great American Novels. The most noticeable discrepancy that separates The Call of the Wild from other books is that the story is not told from the perspective of a human. It’s told from the perspective of buck, a St. Bernard dog. This allows for the author, Jack London, to get creative in his storytelling by going in depth on themes of the primitive, savage nature of dogs and the wilderness. Wilderness and being in the “wild” is a big theme in this novel as it takes place during the Yukon Gold Rush. This is something that we haven’t really seen in other novels. Although “the Grapes of Wrath” somewhat took place in the wild and explored nature, you are surrounded with lot’s of other characters who are always talking. In “the Call of the Wild,” you feel more alone and isolated in nature. Books like “a Farewell to Arms” and “Day of the Locust” took place in crowded urban cities and had a completely different vibe. I like London’s writing style and how the story takes place in the “wild.”
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Great American Novels 2020 
I totally agree with you!
London’s story about Buck gives us a whole different setting where the story is told through a dog rather than a human. I really loved the themes and characters in the book. He puts the readers in Buck’s paws so they see and feel what Buck is seeing and feeling. Overall, London nailed it.
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I have not read this novel but the way you describe being in the wild makes me very interested as you are correct, every other book we have read this semester has been quite populated with many characters and locations that tend to make a story more confusing than it has to be.
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This novel seems very interesting, as reading it from the perspective of a dog is very unique. I have two dogs, so I’m sure that I would like the style of the way that this book was written if a dog is telling it. The theme of this book being in the wild and isolated doesn’t seem to different then some books that we have read this semester such as A Farewell to Arms and Grapes of Wrath. In A Farewell to Arms, Frederic Henry is alone and isolated when he is trying to escape, and he is somewhat in the wild as he is avoiding getting killed by the enemy army. In Grapes of Wrath, the family is all they have, and they are constantly traveling which could be considered in the wild at some points throughout their travel.
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