not even Judge Miller would recognize him.

At Seattle, Buck is delivered into the hands of a "stout man with a red sweater and a club." To this man, Buck seems to be hardly a dog; the man calls Buck a "truly red-eyed devil," and again and again, Buck attempts to attack the man in the red sweater; as a result, Buck is taught the first law of primitive society — that is, a man with a club in his hand is more powerful than a single dog. London refers to this "lesson" as the "law of the club." Significantly, the man in the red sweater finally admits that Buck is indeed a powerful and great adversary. Once Buck has learned that the "law of the club" is alaw that he must obey, he allows the man in the red sweater to bring him water to drink and food to eat; he even eats the food from the man's hand. It is obvious that Buck knows that he is beaten, but, as London tells us, Buck is not broken: he was beaten (he knew that), "but he was not broken." To Buck, the man with the club, a kind of "cave man" figure, represents the potential for the primitive element in all of us. The red of his sweater hearkens us to recall Buck's blood-red eyes and also the blood which Buck is covered with after his beating, as well as the red blood of raw meat. Red,therefore, serves as a symbol of savagery.

Even though Buck