White Fang- A Book That Will Change Your Thinking

In the frigid zone, bitter air with blood-curdling howls and ready-to-tear-apart fangs. This is probably the vision most of the people get when they hear the name of this classic or even just think about a wolf. But well, this book will actually change your thinking. White Fang written by Jack London demonstrates the life of a wolf-dog who was estranged from his actual habitat by some humans. Or to reframe it White Fang himself suddenly ran into his destiny. The book is divvied into five distinctive parts that relate the turning points in White Fang’s life.

The Book Cover

PART I

The first part is the only one part described through a human being point of view. Bill and Henry are two men who hunt out in the Wild. They had six sled-dogs which slowly start disappearing because of an undetermined cause. Beginning from Fatty—the first dog that vanished—to the last dog—One Ear neither Bill nor Henry could do anything. One thing that enthralled them the most was that the cause was a wolf. And not only any wolf—a she-wolf. Well, the she-wolf was very wild and she was the leader of the pack—according to the men.

Little did they know that only one of them would endure in the long run after all. Part One recounts experience of two of the humans. It shows how scared but desperate they are. In this part there is no mention of White Fang but as the story reaches the second part White Fang’s life starts.

Bill and Henry

PART II

In Part Two, the story is told from the wolf point of view. Here the she-wolf’s pack is presented. The way how wolves and other wild animals survive, how they commune and harmonize. Soon, it is seen that most of the wolves are so fraught for food that they end up fighting and eating each other. At the end, only the she-wolf and one other wolf called One Eye are left. They continue to hunt together and help each other.

But one day the she-wolf stops. By ‘stops’ I mean, she stops doing everything—hunting, wandering, and even walking. She finds a cave where she lays. And this is the time when it happens. White Fang is born. He was the pluckiest and the most audacious of all his siblings. Here, the author portrays what things seem like to little White Fang. He absorbs the distinctive rules and restrictions of life. He learns that he can not walk into walls—that hurt his tender nose. He learns that his father—One Eye hunted for him, and many more things. But the most captivating thing for him as well as for his siblings was the entrance to the cave. White Fang alleged that it was some kind of a fence that gleamed.

White Fang's mother and him

As White Fang grows, hiss desire to reach out to that luminous wall upsurges, but can’t as his mother restricted him to do so. However, one day—when his father and siblings were no more and his mother was hunting he risked to go to the entrance. He stepped out and was blinded when he saw the actual magnificence of life. He fell, wailed, got up, again fell, wailed again, but still tried again and he accomplished the task—this was the drill every time he encountered a novel challenge. He saw the different creations of life in a very special approach that will get you pondering about life once again.

PART III

This part describes the chief turning point of his life—when he runs into his new gurus—the humans. The humans laugh at him and that is when White Fang realizes his weakness—laughter. He bristles—ready for any confrontation when his mother appears. White Fang thought he would be protected but little did he know that his mother was destitute in front of humans, too. His mother—named Kiche by humans—is tied away. The little cub is now given his name—White Fang. Now White Fang comprehends what will happen. He saw the humans as gods who could make non-living things move and who were the creators of fire. During the time with his master, Grey Beaver, he turns into a vicious little monster who knew nothing of affection and compassion. The other dogs promptly made White Fang his foe.

One specific dog, Lip-lip, the trailblazer of the pack was the bane of his life since the day he had entered the camp of the humans. This and other things start altering him into a cold-blooded monster—especially, when Kiche is taken away. White Fang becomes a wolf who only thinks about vengeance, meat and his god.

 

Grey Beaver and White Fang

PART IV

White Fang is soon known to be very valiant and whom nobody could overthrow. Everybody was stayed out of his way or else they would die. Soon, they called him the enemy of his kind. Well, he was the foe of his kind and also of everyone else. He lingers to be the fiend he is turned into until another turning point in his life when his god goes to another town where he apprehends that there are superior gods who are white. Around this time, he faces another torment of his life—Beauty Smith. His first name was given by his companions; it was ironic as he was a chicken as well as ugly. Beauty Smith tricks Grey Beaver into selling White Fang to him. He is labored by Beauty Smith. Smith wasn’t esteemed by his kind which was why he victimized the weaker kind.

This part is very upsetting as we see White Fang losing his concentration. He only subsists because his new god makes him contest dogs of all kind—none of which live. During this time, White Fang is given the name of ‘the Fighting Wolf’. His god took hedonism in perturbing him by laughing at him and bolting him in a cage! But, but, but. There is a superman of the story—Weedon Scott. He saves White Fang from the beasts and ignites in him the stances that he had never felt. Here, White Fang takes an instant fondness to his new love-master.

 

Weedon Scott and White Fang

PART V

The last part makes one’s heart bloom with delight. Here, White Fang learns the factual meaning of life. He understood that the god who on one hand could treat you severely, could also could shower you with all kinds of delights. White Fang becomes so used to his love-master that when he went to his home-town, White Fang lost his yearning to live, again.

The next time when Scott went to his home-town he took White Fang with him. And so, the story comes to a conclusion with the wolf being touched by the shadows of death and being called ‘the Blessed Wolf’.

This classic will change your opinion as a human being and force you to think how brutal we can be to them, how they think of us, and how they are so scared of us—gods when today we are ourselves terrified of the animals who are vulnerable in front of the firearms, clubs and stones.