White Fang Study Guide

White Fang

White Fang by Jack London

White Fang is the story of the titular wilderness-born wolf-dog's road to domestication and the process of his bonding with Weedon Scott, a man who saves him from a succession of cruel owners. White Fang, told in part from the animal's perspective, is a story of the intense cruelty of both nature and the human world. It ruminates on dog-fighting, animal abuse, and the real love that can grow between owners and their pets.

White Fang Characters

Table of Contents
  • White Fang is the book's main character. He is half-wolf and half-dog. He is born wild but becomes more dog-like after Grey Beaver domesticates him. He grows up fierce and unloved, constantly bullied by other dogs, like Lip-Lip, and becomes a fighting dog after Beauty Smith buys him. He eventually becomes more loving and friendly after he is bought and tamed by Weedon Scott. He saves Judge Scott's life by killing Jim Hall and eventually has six pups with Collie.
  • Weedon Scott is White Fang's third master and the first to show affection towards him. He saves White Fang from the bulldog Cherokee and forcefully buys him from Beauty Smith. He tries to tame White Fang and slowly gains his trust, then finally his love. He takes White Fang to live with him in California.
  • Grey Beaver is White Fang's first master. He is harsh and shows no affection for his dog, but White Fang still displays loyalty toward him out of respect for his superiority. Grey Beaver only sells White Fang after becoming addicted to alcohol.
  • Kiche is White Fang's mother; she is known as the "she-wolf" at the beginning of the novel. She is half-wolf, half-dog and used to be Grey Beaver's brother's dog, but escaped during a famine. When she returns to the Native Americans, she gets sent away from White Fang and only sees him twice more in the novel, once after White Fang has turned of age, the second time during a famine when she again escaped into the wild, as did some other dogs including White Fang - in both cases she chased him off to protect her new pups.
  • Lip-Lip was a canine pup who also lives in the Native American village. He brutally bullies White Fang throughout his puppyhood and encourages the other dogs to attack him. White Fang kills him after he flees into the woods during a famine.
  • Beauty Smith is White Fang's second master. He is an ugly man who gets Grey Beaver addicted to alcohol so that he can buy White Fang. He trains White Fang to become a fighting dog. He tries to steal White Fang back after Scott forcefully buys him, but White Fang brutally attacks him.
  • One Eye was White Fang's father. He was a pure-blooded wolf and killed his rivals to mate with Kiche. He was killed by a lynx when he tries to rob her den for food during a famine.
  • Jim Hall is a criminal who escapes from prison after Judge Scott justly sentences him. He attempts to murder Judge Scott, but White Fang attacks and kills him.
  • Judge Scott is Weedon Scott's father. He does not trust White Fang completely at first, until he saves his life from Jim Hall.
  • Collie is a sheepdog on Scott's farm. She does not trust White Fang at first, but he works his way into her confidence, and they become mates.
  • Henry is a musher who appears in the first part of the novel with Bill. He is the only one who escapes being eaten by the wolves.
  • Bill was a musher who appears in the first part of the novel with Henry. The wolves eat him when he attempts to go after the pack with a gun.
  • Mit-sah is Grey Beaver's son. He runs White Fang and the other puppies on a sled.
  • Matt is Scott's musher. He feeds White Fang and works him on the sled during the day.
  • Cherokee is a bulldog that faces White Fang during one of the fights Beauty Smith hosts. He is the only dog to ever get close to killing White Fang.

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