The Call of the Wild

by Jack London

The Call of the Wild: Pathos 1 key example

Definition of Pathos

Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Pathos is an argument that appeals to... read full definition
Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Pathos is... read full definition
Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... read full definition
Chapter 4: Who Has Won to Mastership
Explanation and Analysis—Dave's Death:

London personifies the dogs in the novel, often using pathos to invite readers to sympathize with the dogs as fellow people. For example, in Chapter 4, Dave gets sick but manages to convince the human drivers that he should be allowed to remain in the traces until the end:

[The Scotsman's] comrades talked of how a dog could break its heart through being denied the work that killed it [...]. Also, they held it a mercy, since Dave was to die anyway, that he should die in the traces, heart-easy and content. So he was harnessed in again, and proudly he pulled as of old, though more than once he cried out involuntarily from the bite of his inward hurt. Several times he fell down and was dragged in the traces, and once the sled ran upon him so that he limped thereafter in one of his hind legs.