Throughout the novel Call of the Wild, readers become aware of innate characteristics of savagery that emerge in Buck and other dogs. From the very start, Buck's true nature appears while traveling on the train. Buck refuses to eat and drink while making belligerent attempts to break out of his cage. After arriving in Seattle, Buck immediately attacks the man who opens his cage, in return receiving a strike from the club. Buck abruptly learns the role of the club as this object leaves an indelible fear within his mind.
Every man for himself is the basic theme of survival which Buck experiences first hand while watching Curly and Spitz brawl. Curly nonchalantly walked towards Spitz's grounds and without warning Spitz attacked. Spitz knocked Curly down and huskies came swarming in like vultures trying to rip her apart. There are no rules of fairness in the world of dominance. "Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law; and this mandate, down out of the depths of time he obeyed." One survival skills that Buck quickly catches onto is a sleeping habit that helps keep the body warm during the harsh, cold winter nights by making a deep whole. "Another lesson. So that was the way they did it, eh?" He learns that he must devour his fish so it will not be eaten by the other dogs or cunningly steal food while Perrault's back is turned. "This first theft marked Buck as fit to survive in the hostile Northland environment. It marked his adaptability, his capacity to adjust himself to changing conditions.".
In order to ensure Buck's survival, his body develops and changes rapidly. His muscles turn hard as a rock. His stomach adapted so that all foods could be digested. His vision, sense of smell, and hearing became astute so that while he slept he ".heard the faintest sound and knew whether it heralded peace or peril.".
One morning while the dogs were harnessing up, Dolly went suddenly mad and tried to attack Buck.
