# Hal — The Call of the Wild character guide

> Hal in The Call of the Wild by Jack London.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0006-v-the-toil-of-trace-and-trail

## Snapshot

A greenhorn stampeders' leader who drives his exhausted team toward disaster, mistaking cruelty for command on the brutal Klondike trail.

## Who they are

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 impatience, and his temper curdles into blows when the team falters. His refusal to heed warnings about the thawing river turns him into the story's sharpest lesson in how not to survive the wild.

## Relationships

### [Buck](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/buck)

_rivalry_

Hal is an abusive, incompetent owner who mistreats Buck and the other dogs, creating a hostile and antagonistic relationship.

### [Mercedes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/mercedes)

_family_

Hal and Mercedes are brother and sister, sharing a spoiled and impractical attitude that leads to disaster on the trail.

### [John Thornton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/john_thornton)

_rivalry_

Hal and John Thornton clash over the treatment of the dogs, with Thornton condemning Hal's cruelty and incompetence.

### [Mercedes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/mercedes)

_family_

Hal and Mercedes are brother and sister, sharing a spoiled and impractical attitude that leads to disaster on the trail.

### [Buck](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/buck)

_rivalry_

Hal is an abusive, incompetent owner who mistreats Buck and the other dogs, creating a hostile and antagonistic relationship.

### [John Thornton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/john_thornton)

_rivalry_

Hal and John Thornton clash over the treatment of the dogs, with Thornton condemning Hal's cruelty and incompetence.

### [John Thornton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/john_thornton)

_rivalry_

Hal and John Thornton clash over the treatment of the dogs, with Thornton condemning Hal's cruelty and incompetence.

## In the story

### [The Toil of Trace and Trail](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/chapters/v-the-toil-of-trace-and-trail)

Inexperienced and cruel owner who mismanages the dogs and perishes with the sled.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters/hal
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_call_of_the_wild_se/characters