Quote 79
For the last time in his life he allowed passion to usurp cunning and reason, and it was because of his great love for John Thornton that he lost his head. (7.38)
Buck’s love for Thornton is dangerous in its intensity.
Quote 80
All day Buck brooded by the pool or roamed restlessly about the camp. Death, as a cessation of movement, as a passing out and away from the lives of the living, he knew, and he knew John Thornton was dead. It left a great void in him, somewhat akin to hunger, but a void which ached and ached, and which food could not fill. (7.41)
The physical is once again tied to the emotional, as Thornton’s death causes a physical response in Buck.
Quote 81
It was the call, the many-noted call, sounding more luringly and compellingly than ever before. And as never before, he was ready to obey. John Thornton was dead. The last tie was broken. Man and the claims of man no longer bound him. (7.42)
Buck is only able to join the wild once Thornton dies.