Fishing for Metaphors

I am feeling nostalgia for simpler days. So, I purchased a used copy of White Fang by Jack London at the local bookstore. I found it while I was browsing books for fun. It’s one of the books my 4th-grade teacher read to us. At the time, I couldn’t appreciate it like every other coming-of-age book. I remember thinking why is our teacher reading this boring book to us? Most of us fell asleep at our desk. Me? I was staring outside the window. Now that I am around her age, I think I understand why she picked this book. She was trying to civilize us wild schoolchildren and it worked like magic!

Anyway, the book is so good. It fell apart midway through as I was reading it. Okay, I confess, that’s half the truth. The book was already in poor condition when I bought it. On the back of the book, there is a coffee stain! But for $1.50, I cannot resist. I also like the book’s cover. It looks old-fashioned. The large print is also appealing. After all, a book is less valuable if it’s just on the bookshelf as decor. Books are meant to be explored and read.

Synoposis

White Fang is a wolf, but is also a quarter dog. This makes him a special creature. He is wild but also domesticated. Thus he has an advantage over purebred dogs and wolves. His hybrid breeding enables him to navigate the harsh Yukon environment, and the brutality of the man-gods (humans) he encounters.  As he goes through different man-gods, White Fang comes to civilization once he meets the rightful one. The rightful one is just, fair, compassionate, and strong.

Writing Style

I was instantly captivated by the writing style. The prose is so poetic. The first paragraph of the book throws me into the cold wilderness. I feel it:

The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness.

I also like how the author describes the wild as a frozen-hearted savage. It’s the perfect stage where dog eats dog to survive. The writing is so intense that I felt as if I were in the book!

There were a few things, however, I did not enjoy about the book. It was more of a personal thing, though. After all, the book was published in 1906. Time has changed. Perhaps, not always for the better for some folks, but regardless, time has changed. I don’t know how I’d feel living inside a white picket fence governed by a self-righteous man-god. I would find it difficult, especially when he is unfairly transactional.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a great book, but one that feels foreign to me now, and yet familiar. It’s a weird feeling that I cannot describe. It’s comforting; at the same time, alienating. I guess being an adult means learning how to think for oneself. We are all shaped by our environment.