The Call of the Wild Fate and Free Will Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

It was inevitable that they should go short on dog-food. But they hastened it by overfeeding, bringing the day nearer when underfeeding would commence. (5.37)

Ignorance in the face of destiny often leads to the downfall of both men and animals in the novel.

Quote #11

"And they told you true," John Thornton answered. "The bottom's likely to drop out at any moment. Only fools, with the blind luck of fools, could have made it. I tell you straight, I wouldn't risk my carcass on that ice for all the gold in Alaska." (5.54)

Some wiser men are attuned to inevitable events.

Quote #12

Thornton went on whittling. It was idle, he knew, to get between a fool and his folly; while two or three fools more or less would not alter the scheme of things. (5.56)

Thornton is wise because of his ability to recognize the inevitable—that which we cannot change.