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White Fang
by Jack London

"White Fang" is the story of a wolf that got domesticated but with hard work, who also encountered different typologies of humans before reaching the version of a tamed wolf.

The first part of the book starts with a story about two men, Bill and Henry that had to transport a corpse to the city, but they have to cross a great land of wild nature, in the middle of the winter. While camping numerous times, the men observe that the the dogs from the sled act a little strange and also notice that a wolf might be among their dogs, a she-wolf actually. More wolves get closer to them because they are very hungry and their dogs start to disappear, some eaten by wolves. They notice that one of the wolves looks very much like a dog. This beginning of the story has it's purpose of introducing us, the reader, to the laws of the Wild, that it can't be tamed and that we are threatening it with our presence. The narrator goes deep into the descriptions, making us imagine every feeling. The passage where he describes the landscape, where he talks about the Wild, seems rather heartless, but it actually the very truth. The story kills the romantic idea about nature. London, more than a realist, is a naturalist, seeing the true picture of life, without censorship. For example, the episode when Henry analyzes his hand, he actually realizes that he is only food for the wolves. "White Fang" is not a story suitable for children, the violence in it is not for them, it has a "sobering perspective".

When they wake up all their dogs are there, but one of them, One Ear starts running towards the wolves. He doesn't listen to Henry's calling and Bill has to go with his rifle and save One Ear. Henry stays with the other dogs and hears the shots, then the yell of the dog and the wolf-cry. Bill knows what has happened and remains silent. He is left alone with the dogs and the wolves. The wolves start to attack him but he defends himself by throwing sticks from the fire to them. He lays close to the fire and falls asleep. Next morning, the wolves are gone and he is saved by a group of people. The true presence of Realism and Naturalism and the reality of the Wild can be clearly seen in the hours Henry has to survive the attack of the wolves and the cold all by himself.

Next, the narrator moves a part where the characters are the animals only. But they do not talk or act otherwise than their natural behaviour. The narrator doesn't humanize the wolves, but lets them be in their own habitat. The part is presented as a documentary on wolf life. The wolves suffer from famine and they have to search for food together in order to survive. After they get rid oft he famine, the she-wolf presented in the beginning of the story, goes away with an old wolf with one eyes, the young leader and a young wolf of only three years old. They fight to win the she-wolf and the winner is the old wolf. While the wolves were fighting she had been searching for a lair where she could give birth to a litter of pups.

One of them, a grey one, is stronger than the others and learns everything quickly. He is fascinated by the wall of light that stands at the entrance of the cave. The famine hits the family and one by one, the pups die, leaving only the grey pup alive and his mother, while the father, One Eyes, is killed while fighting with a lynx. The mother starts leaving the cave, leaving the pup alone. He goes outside alone and starts exploring the world around him, hunting and being almost killed by a weasel. When the famine hits again the pup starts to hunt alongside his mother and together they manage to kill a lynx that comes to the lair to kill the wolves for killing her kittens. The wolves are injured by the lynx and the pup learns an important lesson that day : EAT OR BE EATEN.

Next, the narrator presented the character of White Fang, now a bigger pup, before meeting man. He is exploring and learning everything about Wild and Nature alongside his mother, whom he loves very much. The lesson he learned earlier, EAT OR BE EATEN, is an universal law in the Wild, but the wolves don't actually know what it means or questions it, the simply live it.

One day, in one of his wanderings, the pup arrives into and Native American village. This is the first encounter the pup has with man. He is afraid of the power humans hold and when the man reaches hand to him, the wolf bites him. The pup is named WHITE FANG because of the white teeth he shows to the man. He is hit by the man until his mother comes faster to him. Here we find that the man's name is Gary Beaver and he and the she-wolf know each other. Her name is Kische and she is the offspring of a dog and a wolf that run from the village because of the famine. Gray Beaver takes the two of them in the village and takes care of them. The dogs in the village try to attack the wolves but are driven off by Gray Beaver and White Fang learns that humans make laws and justice there. In the village, White Fang meets his enemy, Lip-lip, a puppy older than him but who constantly bullies him. Because of him he meets fire and also gets burnt, learning to fear it. They stay in the village a period, but when White Fang wants to leave, mother doesn't want to go. She is later sold to another tribe and White Fang tries to follow her but he is caught by Gray Beaver that beats him badly. White Fang grows hated by the whole tribe, dogs and humans, beside Gray Beaver who accepts him. In this section, White Fang learn that humans are superior beings, seen as gods. The power of humans to create a sense of order gives the dogs the concept of good and bad. White Fang is actually becoming a dog, because in the wild the concept of good and bad doesn't exist, there the fittest survives.

The village packs up for hunting and White Fang decides at first that he will stay behind, hiding in the forest. But through the night he is cold and feels lonely and afraid so he deliberately goes in search of his people, choosing to slowly become a dog. White Fang becomes very protective of his people and comes to the village with a new attitude and the dogs start respecting him. In the summer, White Fang meets his mother but she has another litter of pups and growls at him, doesn't let him close to them. He is confused but lives on his life.

White Fang becomes a vicious and aggressive dog and attack all the dogs that try to attack him. When he reaches almost five years old, Gray Beaver takes him into a trip to Yukon in order to sell numerous things he manufactured, including furs and mittens. They settle there for a period of time. White Fang meets there his first white men, whom they consider far superior from the Native Americans because they have bigger houses and greater powers. A man living in Fort Yukon sees White Fang and his attitude and wants to buy him but Gray Beaver refuses. Beauty Smith is far from similar to his name, he is a vicious and bad man, his name is in contrast with his ugly attitude. He brings Gray Beaver whiskey and Beauty Smith helps Gray Beaver drink all his money until he manages to give White Fang to Beauty Smith. This part emphasizes the great problem of drinking and their consequences. Beauty Smith makes White Fang a fighting dog known under the name "The Fighting Wolf".

One day, White Fang was brought by Beauty Smith to fight a bulldog named Cherokee. They are not used to fight this other type of dog and the two of them look at each other with confusion. The bulldog starts the fight but White Fang responds to it. The bulldog manages to stick his teeth into White Fang's throat and would not let go. While White Fang was slowly dying a man comes in the middle of the dogs and separates them. Another man is with him and pays Beauty Smith to buy White Fang even if he says he won't sell him. The men names are Scott, a mining expert, and his friend, Matt, a dog musher. They try to tame him, but end up in the beginning by ripping Matt's leg and hand. But they do not lose hope and by Scott speaking kindly to him and bringing meat he lets Scott pet him and slowly attaches to him, starting to love him. This is the first love experience White Fang encounters. The fighting with the bulldog brought him close to the Wild and almost killed him, but Scott's love tamed him, bringing him closer to a dog's nature. He keeps his viciousness but does not let his anger take over him, and learns how to differentiate between good and evil.

Scott needs to return to his home in California but could not take White Fang with him. White Fang cries and barks a lot until is locked into the house. But at the time Scott boards on his boat, White Fang jumps into it and Scott decides that he could not leave him there and takes him to San Francisco, where White Fang is amazed about the lights and the buildings there. They arrive at Scott's house where White Fang meets Scott's family and the other dogs with whom at first couldn't get along. Even if White Fang misses the Wild and the snow and the cold, he gets accustomed to his master's house and gets along very well with everyone. Scott's father is a judge who sentenced a man named Jim Hall to prison and when he escapes he seeks revenge on the judge by killing his family. This would have become true if White Fang wouldn't have been there to protect them and kill Jim Hall, but Hall manages to shot White Fang.

While slowly recovering from the shot, White Fang dreams of the North and his past life as a wolf in the Wild. The Wild is still alive in him and the only thing that keeps it there is his love for Scott. He receives acceptance from all the members of the family, including the dogs, which make him stay there.

The end of the story presented White Fang and his puppies with the other dog of the family, Collie, laying in the sun, being a happy family. Stroked by the sunlight he remembers his childhood. Until that moment, White Fang never knew what true rest feels like, he is truly happy and he is HOME.