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White Fang
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White Fang (1906) (edit title/settings)

by Jack London (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

With an introduction from award winning K.A. Applegate, White Fang is one of London's classic tales of survival and one of his most popular stories. White Fang is part dog, part wolf, and the lone survivor of his family. In his lonely world, he soon learns to follow the law of the North--kill... read more

Summary edit see section history

The story begins before the three-quarters wolf-dog hybrid is born, with two men and their sled dog team. The men, Bill and Henry, are stalked by a large pack of starving wolves over the course of several days. Finally, four more teams find Henry, after all his dogs have been eaten and Bill... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The story begins before the three-quarters wolf-dog hybrid is born, with two men and their sled dog team. The men, Bill and Henry, are stalked by a large pack of starving wolves over the course of several days. Finally, four more teams find Henry, after all his dogs have been eaten and Bill has been killed, in a ring of coals from his fire in an attempt to keep the wolves away. The story then follows the pack, which has been robbed of its last prey. When the pack finally manages to bring down a moose, the famine is ended; they eventually split up, and the story now follows a she-wolf and her mate, One Eye. The she-wolf gives birth to a litter of five cubs by the Mackenzie River, and all but one die from hunger. One Eye is killed by a lynx while trying to rob its den for food for the she-wolf and her cub. The surviving cub and the she-wolf are left to fend for themselves. The she-wolf later discovers his remains near the lynx den.

The cub comes across five Native Americans one day, and the she-wolf comes to his rescue. One man, Grey Beaver, recognizes the she-wolf as Kiche, his brother's wolfdog, who left during a famine. Grey Beaver's brother is dead, so he takes Kiche and her cub, christening the cub White Fang. White Fang has a harsh life in the Indian camp. The current puppy pack, seeing him as a wolf, immediately attack him. He is saved by the Indians, but the pups never accept him, and the leader Lip-lip marks him out for special persecution. White Fang grows up becoming more savage, morose, solitary, and a deadly fighter, "the enemy of his kind."

When White Fang is 5 years old, he is taken to Fort Yukon so that Grey Beaver can trade with the gold-hunters. There, he is sold (poignantly, for a bottle of whiskey) to a dog-fighter, Beauty Smith. White Fang defeats all opponents, until a bulldog is brought in to fight him. The bulldog manages to get a grip on the skin and fur of White Fang's neck, and slowly and surely begins to throttle him. White Fang has nearly suffocated when a rich young gold hunter, Weedon Scott, comes by and rescues him.

Scott attempts to tame White Fang and after a long patient effort he has success. When Scott attempts to return to California alone, White Fang pursues him, and Scott decides to take the dog with him back home. The final chapters bookend the two novels White Fang and The Call of the Wild, ending at Judge Scott's estate as The Call of the Wild started at Judge Miller's, both places in the Santa Clara Valley. In Santa Clara, White Fang has to make many changes to adjust to the laws of the estate. At the end of the book, a murderous criminal, Jim Hall, tries to kill Judge Scott, who had sentenced Hall to prison, not knowing that Hall was "railroaded". White Fang kills Hall and is nearly killed himself, but survives. The women of Scott's estate name him "The Blessed Wolf," and the story ends with White Fang relaxing in the sun with the puppies he had fathered with the sheep-dog Collie.

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Kiche: White Fang's mom, who was tamed by the Indians but went back to the Wild
  • Baseek: Add a description of this character.
  • Beth
  • White Fang: The 3 part wolf/1 part Indian dog and main animal character
  • Tim Keenan
  • Henry: A man attacked by wolves.
  • She-Wolf/Kiche: White Fang's mother. (Kiche was the name given to her by her Native American tribe.)
  • Lip-Lip: A dog of the Native American tribe that has a vendetta against White Fang, turning the pack of puppies against White Fang.
  • Jim Hall: A clinically insane criminal, put in jail by Judge Scott.
  • Collie: A dog belonging to Judge Scott.
  • Judge Scott: Weedon Scott's father
  • Dawson
  • Dick
  • Bill: A man attacked by wolves.
  • Cherokee: The first bulldog brought to the Klondike by his master.
  • Matt: Weedon Scott's musher, who works with White Fang on the sleds.
  • Beauty Smith: A white man who purchases White Fang from Gray Beaver.
  • Weedon Scott: A white man living in the Klondike who acquires White Fang, through force, from Beauty Smith when he and his musher, Matt, come across him pitting dogs against one another. He separates Cherokee and White Fang just in time, takes him in and teaches White Fang of the love humans have, and repays the 'debt' humankind has left White Fang.
  • Gray Beaver: A Native American who is White Fang's first human master, and the first person White Fang willingly gives himself over to. He sells White Fang to Beauty Smith when his issues with alcohol get the best of him.
  • One Eye: White Fang's father (pure wolf)
Show all 20 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “„...Atunci se opri în apropierea unui grup de brazi, îsi înalta capul si se uita cu atentie la cei doi oameni. îi privea cu o staruint particulara, asa cum numai un câine poate face, dar totusi, fara ca sa aiba în ochi privirea dragastoasa a amicului omului. Aceasta privire era cea a foamei...“Nascut în tinuturile înzapezite din nordul canadian, Colt Alb, jumatate lup, jumatate câine, desi mosteneste ferocitatea stirpei salbatice, ajunge sa descopere forta de nebiruit a devotamentului si a iubirii.”
  • “"In order to face the constant danger of hurt and even of destruction, his predatory and protective faculties were unduly developed. He became quicker of movement than the other dogs, swifter of foot, craftier, deadlier, more lithe, more lean with ironlike muscle and sinew, more enduring, more cruel, more ferocious, and more intelligent. He had to become all these things, else he would not have held his own nor survived the hostile environment in which he found himself."”
    Narrator

Setting & Locations edit see section history

First Sentence edit see section history

Dark spruce forests frowned on either side of the frozen waterway.

Table of Contents edit see section history

The Trail Of The Meat
The She-Wolf
The Hunger Cry
The Battle Of The Fangs
The Lair
The Gray Cub
The Wall Of The World
The Law Of Meat
The Makers Of Fire
The Bondage
The Outcast
The Trail Of The Gods
The Covenant
The Famine
The Enemy Of His Kind
The Mad God
The Reign of Hate
The Clinging Death
The Indomitable
The Love-Master
The Long Trail
The Southland
The God's Domain
The Call Of Kind
The Sleeping Wolf

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in Easton Press. (publisher edition list)
This book is in School Library (Школьная Библиотека). (publisher edition list)
This is book 762 of 986 in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. (authoritative list)
This book is in Heritage Press. (publisher edition list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Jack London (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. John Lee (Reader) - Reader of Blackstone audio CD book

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Macmillan
Country: USA
Publication Date: May, 1906
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 327

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3523.O46 1906
  • Dewey: 813.52

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

  • Librivox: White Fang by Jack London, Free audio book read by Mark F. Smith, Total running time: 7:43:49
  • Project Gutenberg: Free e-book, full text

Movie Connections edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Call of the Wild
  • Hatchet
  • Where the Red Fern Grows

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