Cite this page as follows:
“Who was the “ghost dog” and why is he called that?” eNotes Editorial, 17 May 2019, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/who-was-ghost-dog-why-he-called-that-606132. Accessed 9 Jan. 2023.
Buck is the “Ghost Dog,” who torments the Yeehat Indians after they slaughter his beloved owner, John Thorton. In the last chapter of the story, the Yeehat Indians murder Bucks master, John Thorton, and he responds by wreaking havoc on the entire tribe. Following the death of his master, Buck abides the call of the wild and enters the wilderness, where he defeats a pack of savage wolves. Buck allows his primitive instincts to flourish as he becomes the leader of the pack and the Yeehats begin to notice a change in the breed of timber wolves, which now have splashes of brown on their head and muzzle with a rift of white centering down their chest. They also notice the presence of a Ghost Dog, which has extraordinary cunning and stealth. The Ghost Dog steals from their camps, ambushes their hunters, robs their traps, and slays their dogs. The Ghost Dog is virtually undetectable and defies even their best hunters. Overall, Buck is the enigmatic Ghost Dog, who has become legendary for terrorizing the Yeehat tribe and ruling the surrounding wilderness.
The “ghost dog” is a beast that is talked about by the Yeehat Indians. They talk about him as being a ghost because they only see glimpses of him and no one is totally certain that he exists.
After Buck’s disappearance into the wild, they talk about a change in the appearance of the timber wolves they see. It appears that Buck had been breeding with the wolves, as they started to be seen “with splashes of brown on head and muzzle, and with a rift of white centering down the chest.”
They talked about a wolf who would lead the pack and who lived in a place where streams of yellow flowed “from rotted moose-hide sacks,” clearly the place where John Thornton was killed. This special wolf is bigger than the other wolves and is even suspected of killing lost hunters who wander into the valley where Thornton was killed.
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Is buck the ghost dog in Call of the Wild?
This shows that John Thornton loved Buck and both were leaders. They didn’t fight each other they just help each other. The last reason is this dog is a warrior that protects John Thornton. He does anything for John Thornton.
What does Buck do after Thornton dies?
At the end of Call of the Wild, Thornton is killed by the Yeehat tribe, and Buck gets a heaping helping of revenge on the people that murder his master. But there’s a silver lining—Buck’s now free to run with the wild dog packs…but only on the condition that he is leader, natch.
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The Yeehats speak of a Ghost Dog that haunts the woods and slays the bravest hunter. One wolf returns to the valley each year. He sits and muses, remembering, howls once and then rejoins his pack.
The years were not many when the Yeehats noted a change in the breed of timber wolves; for some were seen with splashes of brown on head and muzzle, and with a rift of white centring down the chest. But more remarkable than this, the Yeehats tell of a Ghost Dog that runs at the head of the pack. They are afraid of this Ghost Dog, for it has cunning greater than they, stealing from their camps in fierce winters, robbing their traps, slaying their dogs, and defying their bravest hunters.