Answer:Buck slowly gets his strength back. John Thornton, it turns out, had frozen his feet during the previous winter, and he and his dogs are now waiting for the river to melt and for a raft to take them down to Dawson. With Thornton, Buck experiences love for the first time, developing a strong affection for the man who saved his life and who proves an ideal master. Thornton treats his dogs as if they are his own children, and Buck responds with adoration and obeys all commands. Once, to test Buck, Thornton tells him to jump off a cliff; Buck begins to obey before Thornton stops him.
Even though Buck is happy with Thornton, his wild instincts still remain strong, and he fights as fiercely as ever. Now, however, he fights in defense of Thornton. In Dawson, Thornton steps in to stop a fight in a bar, and one of the combatants lashes out at him. Immediately, Buck hurls himself at the man’s throat; the man narrowly escapes having his throat ripped open when he throws up his hand, though Buck succeeds in partially ripping it open with his second try. A meeting is called on the spot to decide what to do with Buck, and the miners rule that his aggressive behavior was justified, since he acted in defense of Thornton. Soon, Buck has earned a reputation throughout Alaska for loyalty and fercocity.
London also uses this chapter to set the stage for Buck’s eventual break with the world of men by telling us that this love for Thornton is the only thing that keeps Buck from going wild. Buck remains merciless, for one thing, holding on to the lessons that he learned from Curly’s death and from his war with Spitz—namely, that “he must master or be mastered.” His love for Thornton coexists with his knowledge that “kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law.” His ability to still feel love is significant and suggests that London is not content with the bleakness of a Darwinian cosmos or with the pure cruelty and struggle for mastery of a Nietzschean worldview. But while Buck’s love is strong, it is for Thornton alone and not for mankind in general; he has learned well, especially from Hal and Charles, that mankind at large does not deserve his love. “Thornton alone held him,” London writes, and then describes how Buck ranges away from the fire and senses a “call” beckoning him into the deep forests and wilderness. For the time being, Buck resists this call for Thornton’s sake, but we are left to wonder what will happen if and when he and Thornton separate. Thus, Buck stands poised on the brink of a final break with the world of men, and the stage is set for the developments of the final chapter.
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