The Call of the Wild
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
50 free The Call of the Wild trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Call of the Wild has never been out of print since 1903, and it remains one of the most widely taught American novels. In seven brief chapters a pampered pet is stolen, sold and hardened by the northern trail, until the pull of the wilderness proves stronger than any master. This quiz covers the whole book: Buck's first home and his kidnapping, the dogs and drivers of each sled team, the fights and the famous wager, John Thornton, and the ending. A few questions look at the author's own months in the Yukon, how the story was first published, and the film versions. It is written for students revising for a class test, teachers who want a ready-made quiz over the novel, and readers who simply love the story. Every answer comes with a brief explanation, so you can play it straight through or print it as a worksheet with an answer key.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which American author drew on his own gold-rush winter in the Yukon to write The Call of the Wild?
Jack London
Jack London spent about a year in the Yukon, and what he saw there supplied much of the book. Its success made his name as a writer.
Q 02In The Call of the Wild, Buck is a pampered ranch pet in which US state before he is stolen?
California
California's sunny Santa Clara Valley is Buck's first home, where he rules a big ranch as the family pet. That soft life makes the North a brutal shock.
Q 03Which gold rush of the 1890s creates the huge demand for sled dogs in The Call of the Wild?
Klondike
Klondike fever sent thousands of prospectors north, and every one of them needed strong, thick-coated dogs to haul supplies. That demand is why Buck is stolen and sold.
Q 04In The Call of the Wild, the man who first beats Buck into obedience is known only by which garment?
A red sweater
A red sweater is the only name the novel gives the dog-breaker, who clubs Buck until he learns that an armed man must be obeyed. Buck never forgets the lesson.
Q 05After John Thornton's death at the end of The Call of the Wild, what does Buck finally join?
A wolf pack
A wolf pack accepts Buck after he holds off its attack for half an hour, and he ends the book running at its head. With his last human tie gone, nothing keeps him among people.
Q 06Which Hollywood star plays John Thornton in the 2020 film of The Call of the Wild?
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford stars as the frontiersman opposite Omar Sy and Karen Gillan. The film was directed by Chris Sanders, best known for Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon.
Q 07Which later novel by The Call of the Wild's author reverses the story with a wild wolfdog becoming tame?
White Fang
White Fang, published in 1906, was pitched to the publisher as the first book run backwards: the civilizing of an animal instead of its return to the wild.
Q 08In The Call of the Wild, which bullying sled dog is Buck's deadly rival until Buck kills him in a fight?
Spitz
Spitz, a seasoned trail dog, sees the big Southland newcomer as a threat to his rule. Their last fight ends with the silent circle of watching dogs closing in on the loser.
Q 09How do Hal, Charles and Mercedes die soon after John Thornton rescues Buck in The Call of the Wild?
They fall through the ice
They fall through the ice a quarter of a mile down the trail, sled and dogs with them, after ignoring warnings about the spring thaw. Buck's refusal to get up saved his life.
Q 10In The Call of the Wild, what does François make for Buck when his paws prove too soft for the trail?
Moccasins
Moccasins, four of them, are cut from the tops of the driver's own pair. One morning Buck lies on his back with his paws in the air and refuses to move until he gets them.
Q 11In The Call of the Wild, Buck's first owner, whose grandsons ride on Buck's back, holds which position?
Judge
Judge Miller's place has stables, orchards and a swimming tank, and Buck lords it over all of it. He is stolen on a night when his master is away at a growers' meeting.
Q 12In The Call of the Wild, which gardener's helper secretly sells Buck to a stranger at a railway stop?
Manuel
Manuel walks Buck off through the orchard as if on a stroll and hands him over at a little flag station called College Park. Buck trusts him until the rope tightens round his neck.
Q 13In The Call of the Wild, to which Pacific port city is the kidnapped Buck sent north by train?
Seattle
Seattle is where Buck arrives after two days and nights caged in an express car with nothing to eat or drink. From its docks he sails for Alaska.
Q 21In The Call of the Wild, which dying sled dog fights to keep his place in harness until he is shot?
Dave
Dave bites through a teammate's traces to win back his own spot in the team, so the drivers let him pull until he can no longer stand.
Q 22In The Call of the Wild, the one-eyed husky Sol-leks has a name that means what?
The Angry One
The Angry One earns his name when Buck wanders up on his sightless side and gets a shoulder slashed to the bone. Otherwise the old husky asks only to be left alone.
Q 23In The Call of the Wild, which sled dog suddenly goes mad and chases Buck until François strikes it down?
Dolly
Dolly, the last husky added to the team, snaps one morning on the trail and chases Buck across three islands before an axe stops her.
Q 14In The Call of the Wild, François and Perrault drive Buck's first sled team carrying dispatches for whom?
The Canadian government
The Canadian government employs Perrault as a courier, which is why he is so keen to buy the strongest dogs he can find. His team later makes a record run on the trail.
Q 15In The Call of the Wild, which friendly Newfoundland is torn apart by huskies soon after landing in Alaska?
Curly
Curly makes a friendly advance to a husky and is swarmed by thirty or forty dogs the moment she is knocked down. Her death teaches Buck that a fallen dog gets no second chance.
Q 16On Buck's first bitter night in The Call of the Wild, where does he learn that sled dogs sleep?
Beneath the snow
Beneath the snow is where Buck finds his teammate Billee curled in a warm ball, after the men chase him out of their tent. He digs a hole of his own and sleeps soundly.
Q 17In The Call of the Wild, Buck gets his great size from his father Elmo, who is which breed?
St. Bernard
St. Bernard blood gives Buck his bulk, while his mother Shep, a Scotch shepherd dog, keeps him smaller than his huge father. The mix makes him both strong and quick-witted.
Q 18After killing his rival in The Call of the Wild, Buck refuses to be harnessed until he gets which place?
Lead dog
Lead dog is the job François first hands to an older husky, until Buck drives him off and dodges the harness for the better part of an hour. The men finally give in.
Q 19In The Call of the Wild, Buck learns to stop at 'ho' and to go ahead at which word?
Mush
Mush is the driver's word for go, and Buck picks it up on his very first day in harness, hauling a load of firewood with François.
Q 20After François and Perrault leave The Call of the Wild, what does Buck's team haul to the gold miners?
Mail for the men hunting gold makes a far heavier load than the couriers' dispatches, and the daily grind wears the dogs out. The team covers 2,500 miles in under five months.
Q 24In The Call of the Wild, what does Buck steal from Perrault in his first act of theft?
A chunk of bacon
A chunk of bacon vanishes while Perrault's back is turned, and a clumsy teammate named Dub takes the punishment. The novel counts the theft as proof Buck is fit to survive.
Q 25In The Call of the Wild, which animal is the team chasing when Buck's final fight for mastery begins?
A snowshoe rabbit
A snowshoe rabbit bolts down the river with the whole team and fifty police huskies behind it. Buck's rival cuts across a bend to grab it first, and the two dogs collide.
Q 26In The Call of the Wild, which gold-rush boomtown is the inland end of Buck's sled runs from the coast?
Dawson
Dawson's streets are full of dogs hauling cabin logs and firewood, work that horses did where Buck grew up. At night he delights in joining the huskies' eerie howling.
Q 27In The Call of the Wild, François and Perrault finish their record two-week run at which Alaskan port?
Skagway
Skagway, spelled Skaguay in the novel, greets the team as heroes after fourteen days averaging forty miles a day. Then official orders arrive and the two men leave Buck's life for good.
Q 28In The Call of the Wild, how is Mercedes related to Hal, the young man who drives the overloaded sled?
His sister
His sister Mercedes is married to Charles, the third member of the party, and she insists on riding the sled even as the starving dogs weaken.
Q 29In The Call of the Wild, what injury has left John Thornton resting alone in camp when Buck arrives?
Frozen feet
Frozen feet from the previous December keep Thornton behind while his partners go upriver to cut logs. He is limping slightly on the day he rescues Buck.
Q 30In The Call of the Wild, which of John Thornton's dogs, an Irish setter, nurses Buck's wounds?
Skeet
Skeet washes Buck's wounds clean every morning after his breakfast, the way a mother cat washes her kittens. He comes to look for her visits as much as for Thornton's.