# The Call of the Wild — Character guide

> Key figures in The Call of the Wild by Jack London.

- [Buck](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/buck.md): Buck begins as king of Judge Miller's place, a hundred and forty pounds of dignity who has never known a club or a hungry night. Kidnapped and sold north, he learns the law of fang and trace, discovering in himself a fer
- [John Thornton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/john_thornton.md): Thornton enters Buck's life as a rescuer, a man who lives close to the earth and thinks simply, and Buck's devotion to him becomes total—he tolerates Thornton's partners only because they belong to Thornton. Their bond i
- [Spitz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/spitz.md): Spitz is the trail-wise leader of François and Perrault's team, a fighter who laughs at hell and tolerates no rival near his place at the front. He and Buck circle each other from the first days in harness, their rivalry
- [Dave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/dave.md): Dave is one of the veteran sled dogs Buck joins on the mail run, a creature utterly transformed by harness—alert, irritable at delay, and happiest when the toil of the traces is going well. He pulls as wheeler just ahead
- [Mercedes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/mercedes.md): Mercedes arrives at the camp of Buck's new owners as part of a 'nice family party,' fluttering and chattering while the men load a sled so top-heavy it cannot move. She wrenches the whip from her brother Hal's hand to sp
- [François](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/francois.md): François handles the dogs on the Dyea trail with a driver's pragmatism—he praises Buck's quick learning, wields the axe when mad Dolly charges, and judges Sol-leks the best lead dog left after Spitz is gone. His running 
- [Hal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/hal.md): Hal arrives in the Northland with his sister and brother-in-law, hauling a ludicrously overloaded sled and a fortune in misplaced confidence. Where seasoned mushers read the ice and the dogs, Hal reads only his own impat
- [Perrault](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/perrault.md): Perrault buys Buck in the Yukon and pairs him with the veteran lead dog Spitz, running mail between Dawson and the coast with a fairness the other drivers lack. He reads his dogs the way he reads the trail, rewarding eff
- [The Yeehats](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/the_yeehats.md): They move through the forest as Buck himself has learned to move, silent and sure, and their attack on the mining camp is swift and total. To Buck they are not villains but forces of the same wild he has been answering a
- [Sol-leks](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/sol_leks.md): A one-eyed, irritable sled dog who respects strength.
- [Pike](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/pike.md): A sly and lazy sled dog who steals food when possible.
- [Pete](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/pete.md): John Thornton's loyal friend and fellow prospector.
- [Hans](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/hans.md): John Thornton's other loyal friend and prospecting partner.
- [Manuel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/manuel.md): A gardener's helper who steals Buck and sells him into the Klondike.
- [Matthewson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/matthewson.md): A gambler who bets against Buck in a pulling contest.
- [Skeet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/skeet.md): John Thornton's gentle Irish setter who befriends Buck.
- [The Judge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/the_judge.md): Buck's original owner, a wealthy California judge.
- [Curly](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/curly.md): A friendly Newfoundland dog killed by a pack of huskies upon arrival.
- [Nig](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/nig.md): John Thornton's large black dog, a bloodhound and deerhound mix.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters