No lazy, sun-kissed life was this, with nothing to do but loaf and be bored." In fact, Buck learned the law of the club rapidly in the previous chapter now he will learn the "law of the fang." London is emphasizing that the respected laws of civilization have to be discarded if a man or a beast is to survive in this primitive situation. Buck had been suddenly jerked from the heart of civilization and flung into the heart of things primordial. In fact, at the very beginning of the chapter, London emphasizes this contrast: during Buck's first day, London tells us, "every hour was filled with shock and surprise. This chapter introduces Buck into the concepts of the survival of the fittest, and we will see how Buck is able to confront new and different situations, and how he is able to maintain his mastery of life - even in the most adverse conditions. In a nutshell, the essence of Darwin's theory concerns the evolution of mankind - that is, was Man born as he is today? Or is he the end result of a series of evolutions from a more primitive species of life? In other words, in a more popular conception, is Man descended from apelike creatures? This theory, then, is further emphasized by London's use of the "survival of the fittest" (which also carries the opposite connotation of the elimination of the weakest). As a matter of historical and scientific information, the late nineteenth century had seen the emergence of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, a theory which had become, by the time of London's novel, one of the most controversial scientific theories ever advocated. This chapter introduces London's second, or parallel, theme of the novel.
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