How did John Thornton help buck?

Summary

Deep in the forest a call was sounding, and . . . he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire, and to plunge into the forest.

Table of Contents Show

• John Thornton Quotes in The Call of the Wild
• John Thornton Character Timeline in The Call of the Wild
• How did John Thornton show his love for buck?
• What does Thornton do after Buck wins the bet?
• What did Thornton whisper to buck?
• What does Thornton use to defend buck when Hal pulls a knife?

See Important Quotations Explained

Buck slowly gets his strength back. John Thornton, it turns out, had frozen his feet during the previous winter, and he and his dogs are now waiting for the river to melt and for a raft to take them down to Dawson. With Thornton, Buck experiences love for the first time, developing a strong affection for the man who saved his life and who proves an ideal master. Thornton treats his dogs as if they are his own children, and Buck responds with adoration and obeys all commands. Once, to test Buck, Thornton tells him to jump off a cliff; Buck begins to obey before Thornton stops him.

Even though Buck is happy with Thornton, his wild instincts still remain strong, and he fights as fiercely as ever. Now, however, he fights in defense of Thornton. In Dawson, Thornton steps in to stop a fight in a bar, and one of the combatants lashes out at him. Immediately, Buck hurls himself at the man’s throat; the man narrowly escapes having his throat ripped open when he throws up his hand, though Buck succeeds in partially ripping it open with his second try. A meeting is called on the spot to decide what to do with Buck, and the miners rule that his aggressive behavior was justified, since he acted in defense of Thornton. Soon, Buck has earned a reputation throughout Alaska for loyalty and fercocity.

Buck saves Thornton’s life again when Thornton is thrown out of a boat and gets caught in fierce rapids. Buck swims to the slick rock where Thornton clings for his life, and the other men attach a rope to Buck’s neck and shoulders. After several failed attempts, Thornton grabs onto his neck, and the two are pulled back to safety.

That winter, on a strange whim, Thornton boasts that Buck can start a sled with a thousand pounds loaded on it. Other men challenge his claim, betting that Buck cannot perform that task before their eyes. A man named Matthewson, who has grown rich in the gold rush, bets a thousand dollars that Buck cannot pull his sled—which is outside, loaded with a thousand pounds of flour. Thornton himself doubts it, but he makes the bet anyway, borrowing the money from a friend to cover the wager. Several hundred men come to watch, giving odds—first two to one, then three to one when the terms of the bet are clarified—that Buck cannot break out the sled, and a confident Matthewson throws on another $600 at those odds. Once Buck is harnessed in, he first breaks the sled free of the ice, then pulls it a hundred yards. The crowd of men cheers in amazement, with even Matthewson joining in the applause.

Analysis

For the time being, Buck’s slowly developing identity as a wild animal is quelled by his new devotion to John Thornton and, through him, to the man-dog relationship. If the terrible trio of Hal, Charles, and Mercedes comprises the worst master possible for an animal, then Thornton may be the best. His relationship with Buck is founded on mutual protection and affection—he saves Buck’s life, and then Buck not only does the same for him, but also bears out Thornton’s faith in him by winning a seemingly impossible wager. This is the first time, London emphasizes, that Buck has actually felt love for a human being—perhaps because it is the first time that he is neither a pampered pet nor a drudge, toiling away to pull a sled. Whatever the cause, this love is presented as being profoundly physi-cal—Thornton shakes him and wrestles with him, and Buck has a way of biting his master’s hand that, without drawing blood, is strong enough to leave the marks of his teeth in Thornton’s flesh.

Thornton’s relationship to Buck seems to be the fulfillment of Buck’s mystical vision of primitive man, a vision that recurs in Chapter VII. The relationship of man to dog, the novel suggests, is not a creation of civilization—rather, it is a much more primal bond that can survive even in a dog like Buck, whose civilized veneer is almost entirely scraped away to expose the wild animal beneath. Buck is no longer a pet or a slave, but he still has a master. He has not yet become an animal of the wild.

An experienced gold miner and outdoorsmen, John Thornton is Buck's final owner and his ideal master. Thornton takes ownership of Buck when he saves him from Hal's brutal beating at White River. Thornton takes Buck deep into the uncharted Yukon in search of gold. They develop a deep and loving companionship.

John Thornton Quotes in The Call of the Wild

The The Call of the Wild quotes below are all either spoken by John Thornton or refer to John Thornton. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

).

"If you strike that dog again, I'll kill you," he at last managed to say in a choking voice.

Page Number and Citation: 41

Explanation and Analysis:

Love, genuine passionate love, was his for the first time. This he had never experienced at Judge Miller'sÉ.With the Judge's sons, hunting and tramping, it had been a working partnership; with the Judge's grandsons, aÉpompous guardianshipÉ.with the Judge himself, a stately dignified friendship. But love that was feverish and burning, that was adoration, that was madness, it had taken John Thornton to arouse.

Page Number and Citation: 42

Explanation and Analysis:

“As you love me, Buck. As you love me.”

Page Number and Citation: 50

Explanation and Analysis:

It was the call, the many-noted call, sounding more luringly and compellingly than ever before. And as never before he was ready to obey. John Thornton was dead. The last tie was broken. Man and the claims of man no longer bound him.

Page Number and Citation: 61

Explanation and Analysis:

John Thornton Character Timeline in The Call of the Wild

The timeline below shows where the character John Thornton appears in The Call of the Wild. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...spring has arrived. The ice and snow is starting to melt as they arrive at John Thornton's camp at the mouth of White River. (full context)

The dogs drop down in exhaustion at John Thornton's camp. Thornton advises Hal not to cross the river, because the ice is thinning.... (full context)

Under Thornton's care, Buck recovers. Experiencing love for the first time, Buck comes to adore and admire... (full context)

One day, while resting on a steep cliff, Thornton tests Buck's loyalty by commanding him to jump off its ledge. Buck starts forward, but... (full context)

Buck's devotion continues at Circle City, where Thornton gets into a bar fight with a hot-tempered man, called "Black" Burton. Buck comes to... (full context)

Buck proves his loyalty again when he saves Thornton's life later that year. During a boat launching, Thornton is flung out of the raft.... (full context)

...fame that winter in Dawson when he performs an incredible "exploit." In the Eldorado Saloon, Thornton boasts that Buck can start a sled with a thousand pounds, break it out of... (full context)

...must break the runners out of the ice in order for the wager to hold. Thornton harnesses him to the sled, carrying forty, twenty-five pound sacks of flour, and whispers to... (full context)

Thornton shouts directions at Buck to pull the sled. Straining under the traces, Buck swings to... (full context)

With the money Thornton wins from the wager he sets out eastward with Buck, Skeet, Nig, Hans, and Pete,... (full context)

...senses the summoning of the call as they cavort in the woods, but Buck remembers John Thornton and eventually returns to his camp. (full context)

Buck remains by Thornton's side for two days, but grows restless, returning to the forest in search of the... (full context)

On the trail back to camp, Buck finds one of Thornton's dogs dying and Hans face down in the ground, dead. Seeing the native Yeehats dancing... (full context)

Buck mourns over John Thornton's body but that night hears the call. The wild wolf pack circles him. They... (full context)

How did John Thornton show his love for buck?

What does Thornton do after Buck wins the bet?

What did Thornton whisper to buck?

What does Thornton use to defend buck when Hal pulls a knife?