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Part 2, Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in White Fang, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Struggle for Survival
Domestic Yearnings v. Natural Instinct
Nature v. Nurture
Mastery
Domestication
Mating and Parenthood
Summary
Analysis
The she-wolf and One Eye linger about the camp, until a gunshot scares them off. The she-wolf finds what she is looking for—a cave in the forest. While the she-wolf rests in the lair, One Eye grows restless with hunger and ventures outside.
The she-wolf's search for a cave in the forest shows the resurfacing of her feral instincts. By pursuing the cave, she obeys her instincts and nature's call.
Themes
When One Eye returns to the cave, he discovers that his mate has given birth to a litter of pups. He approaches them, but the she-wolf, fearing that One Eye will eat her pups, snarls at him. One Eye obeys the she-wolf's warning, following his fatherly instincts by going out to hunt on the trail.
On the trail, One Eye notices a meaty porcupine, but passes it over in favor of an easier target, a ptarmigan, or chicken-like bird. Carrying the bird back with him to the cave, he notices the porcupine and the lynx in a tense faceoff. The lynx pounces, piercing itself on the spiny creature's quills and running away. One Eye waits until the injured porcupine dies of exhaustion, picks it up with his teeth, and takes it to the cave for his mate and cubs to eat.
The faceoff between the lynx and porcupine highlights the intense struggle between creatures for survival and life. One Eye capitalizes on this struggle to perpetuate his own survival and that of his family. Thus survival is not only marked by struggle and competition, but also chance and opportunity.
Themes
