Criticisms Of White Fang Essay 2291k

Criticisms of White Fang Jeffrey Shi

White Fang written by Jack London has been read by people for generations and conveys many important messages. For one thing, this story is told in a wolf’s point of view, not a person’s point of view. After people read this book, they realize how wolves act and how animals see people. This book is also one of the first books to be told in an animal’s point of view. This story is about a wild wolf from Alaska; he soon goes to live with the Indians, and the Indians name the wolf White Fang. He then is sold to a “beast” named Beauty Smith and Beauty “transforms” White Fang into “the Fighting Wolf”(pg.204, puffin classics version) and he dogfights with White Fang. Luckily for White Fang, a gold miner named Weedon Scott soon rescues him and gets brought to California to live. A praise that critic Sophie Treadwell had of White Fang was “Magnifique, by gosh!” In other words, she thinks this book is fantastic and a magnificent piece of literature. After reading this book, I agree with her. Books are like puzzles and for a puzzle to be great, it has to be pieced together correctly. For a book to be a great book the words has to be pieced together correctly and Jack London does that perfectly in White Fang. But I just have one criticism: the story ends in an undesirable way. The story ends with White Fang lying on the lawn of Weedon Scott’s house with a puppy on his back. In my opinion, this ending leaves me with questions like: What happens to White Fang afterwards? What happened to Kiche (White Fang’s mother)? What happened to Gray Beaver (White Fang’s first master)? If only Jack London wrote another book as the sequel to White Fang, it would make the story much more interesting and complete.

Famous author and critic J.K. Rowling said, “I thought this book was very interesting. The one part when Henry was falling asleep and the wolves were closing in on him was very intense. Overall, this book was very good. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense and intensity.” I agree with her completely that this book is an interesting book. As she mentions, the part where Henry was falling asleep and the wolves were closing in on him, it is actually in the very beginning of the book, which is one element that makes this book interesting. An important element that also makes this story interesting is that this book has many lessons that White Fang learns that apply to many other animals. The lessons are: Eat or be eaten (pg.101, puffin classics version), Obey the strong and oppress the weak (pg. 139), and Never, no matter what the circumstance, must he dare to bite the god (humans) who was lord and master (pg.156). These lessons that White Fang learns also apply to humans in a way. These lessons tell people how they see us and how they will react if we interact or are near them. For instance, the first one, Eat or be eaten, will tell people if we try to kill wolves, they will try to kill us. So White Fang isn’t just a story, it also tells lessons that are important to the human race. Author Richard Adams says, “White Fang is over one hundred years old. Foremost among the numerous animal adventures which have followed in his train, he an his world remain supreme, perhaps the greatest of animal stories ever written.” I agree with Mr. Adams, I have read other animal stories and none are even close to White Fang even though it is very old. The only animal story that could be better, depending on the person commenting, is Call of the Wild also by Jack London. Call of the Wild is the opposite of White Fang because in White Fang, a wild wolf gets pulled into human society. In Call of the Wild, a sled dog gets put in the wild. Critic Maxwell Geismar thinks that White Fang is not a great piece of literature because he thinks that a wild wolf gets pulled into hell and then pulled into a peaceful, nice, human society “spoiled another beautiful little parable of the instinctual life.”(Jack London: The Short Cut in Rebels and Ancestors: The American Novel, p. 139–216). But Mr.Geismar thinks that Call of the

Wild is, “a beautiful prose poem” (Works part of White Fang, Mobile Reference version, Google books). As far as I am concerned, I think that White Fang is a great piece of literature that can be understood by young children (ages 8-12) and should be considered a masterpiece of literature. Even though White Fang is an old piece of literature, it had been read by generations of people and will be read for generations to come. The storyline of White Fang is just incredible and its plot is unbelievable great. With an incredible storyline and great plot, White Fang would not be complete without the well-designed characters and setting. Anyone who loves a great animal adventure will love reading White Fang.