The call of the wild- SPOILER ALERT!!

Buck lives a privileged life as a judges' dog. Then he is captured and put to work as a sled dog for people in the gold rush. At first he is snarling, angry, and non-conforming, but then he is beaten down and learns the law of club and fang (meaning that whoever is the strongest and most brutal wins). He is sold to two friends, who are caught up in the gold rush, and he immediately starts up a rivalry with the lead dog, whose name is Spitz. As he learns the rules and ways of this strange new life, he also adapts to it, becoming stronger and building both endurance and hatred for Spitz. Eventually disrupting the other dogs' unity and their respect for Spitz. Soon after, Spitz steals food from Buck, and Buck snaps. There is a brutal fight, and Buck kills Spitz. After much growling and whining, Buck becomes lead dog. 

As lead dog, he gets the team unified again, and the become better than ever before.  Eventually the two friends sell the dogs to a mail train, which the team manages, but it over works them. Next, they work for a man, his sister, and her husband, who have way to much stuff and the girl insists on riding on the sled. This works the team so much that they cannot regain their health with a nights sleep and food. Soon, they are near death, and some of them do die. Thankfully, they come across John Thornton, who was left behind from his group to heal a frozen foot, and says that the dogs are very tired, and that they should stay with him and rest until they are fresh again. The man who bought them says that the dogs will keep carrying his things, but Buck collapses. The man whips and whips Buck, until Thornton jumps up and grabs the whip from him, saying that Buck will stay behind. The men and the rest of the team keep going but crack through a not-quite-frozen lake, and do not come back out. 

Buck immediately loves John, and would do anything for him, and does do many things that gain him fame. Bucks' restlessness grows, until he sometimes goes away for days at a time, but he always comes back for John.  One day, he sees a wolf, and makes friends with him and follows him for days, but then he remembers John and comes back. But one day, there is a Native American attack, and while Buck kills nearly all of the natives, Thornton is dead. Now, with his only link to the human world gone, Buck retreats to the wild. And it is said that there is a wolf, and yet more cunning, and bigger than a wolf, who howls at the moon, for loss of everything, and for human cruelty. It is said that Buck lives on.