Violence is a dominant theme throughout Homer's The Odyssey and London's The Call of the Wild. Homer and London portray violence as a necessary component for survival. The authors manipulate violence to gain different, advantageous traits for each character. Personal reasons such as pride drive Odysseus to act violently while Buck's usage of violence helps to gain knowledge. .
Throughout the texts, the authors use violence to demonstrate the character's survival techniques. In The Odyssey, Odysseus faces great dangers in his quest to find his homeland. For instance, he confronts the Cyclops. Odysseus plots a violent scheme to ensure his survival after losing several of his men to the ravenous Cyclops. Odysseus fears he will lose his life, yet selfishly doesn't show any grief for his shipmates who die. Before the plot is carried out, the Cyclops demands his guest's name. Odysseus cunningly replies, "Nobody "that's my name. Nobody "so my mother and father call me, all my friends- (Homer 9:410). After Odysseus and his men successfully blind the Cyclops, the neighbors hear his screams and ask what ails him. Odysseus's cunning reply aids his escape as the Cyclops yells back, "Nobody, my friends "Nobody's killing me now by fraud and not by force!-(Homer 9:454). When the blinded monster releases his flock of rams the next morning, Odysseus and his men hide under the bellies of the rams and exit the cave unnoticed. Once on the ship, Odysseus shouts tauntingly back towards the monster, "Cyclops "if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so "say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes' son who makes his home in Ithaca- (Homer 9:558). Odysseus takes pleasure out of the shame he brings to the Cyclops. The focus of Odysseus's plan was to ensure his personal safety and boost his self-image by humiliating the Cyclops.
