White Fang

Part 2 explores the instincts of the wolves in the wilderness. Their first instinct is the pack mentality. Wolves travel and live together for protection; there is strength in numbers and safety in big groups. However, as in human society, wolf packs can splinter due to pack members competing for resources and vying for power. Wolf packs become divided in times of instability and famine. The pack does not mourn the death of one of its members, but they recognize it as a threat to the wellbeing of the pack.

These issues are dramatized through the she-wolf’s struggles as the primary protagonist of Part 2. She is at the center of many inter-pack conflicts. As a female wolf, she inspires the procreation instinct in her male pack members. Whether they are old or young, pack leaders or followers, the male wolves have an unsatiable instinct to continue their species, as does the she-wolf. The male wolves fight over her, desperate to fulfill their reason for living. Their fights escalate until only one, the oldest, survives. But he also eventually dies after the birth of the she-wolf’s litter, leaving the she-wolf alone with one cub and the full responsibility of providing for herself and her offspring.

In a pack, the she-wolf could has help in securing food and safety for herself and her cub, but on her own, her position is challenging. The male wolves’ paternal instinct conflicts with their possessive, dominant nature, and many cubs die at the hands of male wolves who do not, for some reason, recognize the cubs as their own. There are many threats to the she-wolf’s life, including the risks she takes to protect her cubs. Nature intervened, and most of her cubs didn’t survive. Though she now has fewer mouths to feed, she and her cub are still at risk without the security of the pack.

The she-wolf’s journey in Part 2 parallels Henry’s journey in Part 1. Just as the she-wolf’s allies die one by one, so too does Henry’s small team of humans and dogs steadily dwindle until he alone is left. Like Henry, the she-wolf loses her pack to the instinct of the wolves. Like Henry, she loses her closest ally, One Eye, to the elements of nature. And like Henry, the she-wolf holds on to her inherent grit and fortitude to survive through the hardest periods of life in the wild. The parallel London draws between the human and wolf experience highlights the similarities between humans and animals; though there are major differences between humans and wolves, in the wild they are all on the same path to survival.

London centers his narrative in Part 2 on the experience of wolves to allow readers to relate to the she-wolf’s conflict and the gray cub’s growth. The she-wolf’s life in the wild is representative of the human female experience. Though human society is less animalistic about mating and procreation, the mother’s instinct to keep her babies alive come from the same source. Human gender dynamics can mirror those of the wolves as well, as women must navigate the territorial behavior of men who compete for social and sexual dominance.

The gray cub’s growth into discovering his existence is indicative of the human child’s experience as well. Children, like the gray cub, learn from watching and through experience. London articulates how the gray cub learns to avoid certain sources of pain, just as children learn how to avoid pain by gaining control of their bodies. The gray cub is in awe of his mother, whose power he sees as unimpeachable. Similarly, children rely on adults for their survival. They watch adults to learn how to be. Both the baby wolf and a baby human learn survival through signals.

Notably, London uses a metaphor through the light at the mouth of the gray cub’s cave. He simultaneously knows that the light holds entrance into a new world and fears that light. Eventually, instinct will take over and the gray cub will learn how to live outside of the cave. The same is true for the human child. In Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave,” a young boy becomes aware that there is a world inside of his cave and a world outside of his cave. Moving towards the entrance/exit of the cave, literally moving towards the light just as the gray cub did, is the boy’s metaphorical journey into adulthood.

The key difference between humans and wolves (explored in Part 1 but emphasized in Part 2), is that wolves do not have a consciousness that allows them to dwell on their pain or have hope for their futures. The wolves engage in hunting and survival without reflecting on why they hunt or what’s next in their lives. Simply put, the wolves exist in the moment and for the moment. As a result, they do not endure the psychological strain that humans, such as Henry, experience in life-or-death situations.

The final life lesson that London highlights in Part 2 is that there can be no growth without challenges. The wolves endure hunger and danger from predators (especially the gray cub, who is small enough to become a weaker animal’s prey), and the need to avoid these scenarios shapes their genetic codes and their instincts. London emphasizes this when the famine makes the gray cub become a better, more pragmatic hunger. Challenges make the wolves stronger because they are forced to confront the many threats they face outside and inside their caves.