The mood of White Fang is harsh, dangerous, and desolate. In Part 1, Chapter 1, two men (Bill and Henry) pull a coffin—a symbol of death and the fragility of life amidst the harsh cold of the Yukon wilderness—on a dog sled through a silent, snow-blanketed forest. Although it isn’t clear how the man in the coffin died, the presence of his corpse at the novel’s beginning immediately evokes a mood of foreboding, making it clear to the reader that this is a harsh and unforgiving landscape where death lurks just around the corner:
Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of the frozen waterway. The trees […] seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light […] There was a hint in it of laughter […] It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild.
Here, words like “dark,” “frowned,” “black and ominous,” “desolation,” “lifeless,” “futility,” “savage,” and “frozen-hearted” all contribute to this harsh and dangerous mood, highlighting the cruelty of a vast and uncaring nature dwarfing the comparatively small affairs of wolves, dogs, and men. The Northland represents struggle and domination—it is cold and unkind to life, forcing those who live within it to compete viciously for survival.
This mood of danger persists throughout the novel. White Fang must fight against starvation twice: first when he is a cub in the wilderness, and again when Gray Beaver’s people experience a famine, pushing White Fang back into the wilderness to hunt for his own food. Throughout the novel, White Fang is persecuted on all sides: by predators when he is a pup; by the domesticated dogs who see White Fang’s wolfishness as a threat; by his own mother, Kiche, who has forgotten about him when he meets her again in the wild and growls at him to drive him away from her new litter of pups; and by Beauty Smith, who encourages him to become more vicious by abusing him and putting him in dog fights.
After Weedon Scott rescues White Fang from Beauty Smith, the mood gradually shifts from one of harshness, danger, and desolation to a mood of joy, peace, and sentimentality. White Fang’s defensiveness and hostility, born from the constant threat to his survival posed by the wilderness, other dogs, and the cruelty of Beauty Smith, melts away and is replaced by softness, trust, and love for his master. The idyllic landscape of the Southland, where soft rolling hills and sunshine replace the harsh and craggy wilderness of the Northland, contributes to this mood of joy and peace at the end of the novel. London uses phrases like “smiling country,” “streaming with sunshine,” and “lazy with quietude” to describe the Southland, creating a stark contrast between it and the cruelty, darkness, and oppressive silence of the Northland. In Part 5, Chapter 4, London characterizes the Southland as kind to White Fang whereas the Northland was cruel:
There was plenty of food and no work in the Southland, and White Fang lived fat and prosperous and happy. [...] Human kindness was like a sun shining upon him, and he flourished like a flower planted in good soil.
By the novel’s end, it is clear that White Fang no longer needs to struggle for his survival against a cruel landscape and crueler men; he is fed and unworried about starvation or hunting. Both his owner and his new environment are kind and nurturing toward him, making him feel safe and loved.
The mood of White Fang is harsh, dangerous, and desolate. In Part 1, Chapter 1, two men (Bill and Henry) pull a coffin—a symbol of death and the fragility of life amidst the harsh cold of the Yukon wilderness—on a dog sled through a silent, snow-blanketed forest. Although it isn’t clear how the man in the coffin died, the presence of his corpse at the novel’s beginning immediately evokes a mood of foreboding, making it clear to the reader that this is a harsh and unforgiving landscape where death lurks just around the corner:
Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of the frozen waterway. The trees […] seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light […] There was a hint in it of laughter […] It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild.
Here, words like “dark,” “frowned,” “black and ominous,” “desolation,” “lifeless,” “futility,” “savage,” and “frozen-hearted” all contribute to this harsh and dangerous mood, highlighting the cruelty of a vast and uncaring nature dwarfing the comparatively small affairs of wolves, dogs, and men. The Northland represents struggle and domination—it is cold and unkind to life, forcing those who live within it to compete viciously for survival.
This mood of danger persists throughout the novel. White Fang must fight against starvation twice: first when he is a cub in the wilderness, and again when Gray Beaver’s people experience a famine, pushing White Fang back into the wilderness to hunt for his own food. Throughout the novel, White Fang is persecuted on all sides: by predators when he is a pup; by the domesticated dogs who see White Fang’s wolfishness as a threat; by his own mother, Kiche, who has forgotten about him when he meets her again in the wild and growls at him to drive him away from her new litter of pups; and by Beauty Smith, who encourages him to become more vicious by abusing him and putting him in dog fights.
After Weedon Scott rescues White Fang from Beauty Smith, the mood gradually shifts from one of harshness, danger, and desolation to a mood of joy, peace, and sentimentality. White Fang’s defensiveness and hostility, born from the constant threat to his survival posed by the wilderness, other dogs, and the cruelty of Beauty Smith, melts away and is replaced by softness, trust, and love for his master. The idyllic landscape of the Southland, where soft rolling hills and sunshine replace the harsh and craggy wilderness of the Northland, contributes to this mood of joy and peace at the end of the novel. London uses phrases like “smiling country,” “streaming with sunshine,” and “lazy with quietude” to describe the Southland, creating a stark contrast between it and the cruelty, darkness, and oppressive silence of the Northland. In Part 5, Chapter 4, London characterizes the Southland as kind to White Fang whereas the Northland was cruel:
There was plenty of food and no work in the Southland, and White Fang lived fat and prosperous and happy. [...] Human kindness was like a sun shining upon him, and he flourished like a flower planted in good soil.
By the novel’s end, it is clear that White Fang no longer needs to struggle for his survival against a cruel landscape and crueler men; he is fed and unworried about starvation or hunting. Both his owner and his new environment are kind and nurturing toward him, making him feel safe and loved.
