This section of the novel presents the final changes that will take place within White Fang. Beginning with Part Two, when we saw White Fang as a young puppy, we have followed him from being a creature of the wild to becoming a part of civilization.
At the beginning of Part Five, White Fang senses that there is going to be a change. We find out that Weedon Scott is planning to return to his home in the Southland—Sierra Vista, California. Since Weedon Scott had left White Fang for a short time in Part Four, White Fang is intelligent enough now to know that his master is about to leave him again. Both Weedon Scott and Matt agree that it will be totally impossible to take a wild wolf back to live in the civilization of the Southland. They assume that he would be impossible to domesticate. Thus, when they leave the cabin, they lock the front door, and Matt goes out the back door, locking it. White Fang is left inside. As the two men head down to the boat, they hear White Fang howling, as though “his master was dead.” He is “voicing utter woe. His cry [burst] upward in great heartbreaking rushes, dying down into quavering misery.”
When Weedon Scott boards his homeward-bound ship, he finds White Fang sitting on the deck of the ship. Upon examining the animal, Matt and Weedon Scott decide that White Fang must have broken through the window in the cabin in order to follow his master. Realizing anew the degree of devotion which White Fang has for him, Scott decides to take the animal with him to the Southland despite the fact that he believes that the dog will never be able to become civilized, much less endure the hot climate.
When he arrives in San Francisco, White Fang feels as though he is experiencing some type of nightmare. He is bombarded by strange sounds, sounds of the city, and he is overwhelmed by the sight of all of the tall buildings and crowded streets. He is completely bewildered. He then has to endure being chained in the baggage car, his only consolation being that he can see and smell his master’s luggage, which he will not allow anyone to approach.
Arriving at Sierra Vista, Scott embraces his mother, which causes White Fang to become a “snarling, raging demon.” When White Fang is reprimanded by his master, he is finally satisfied that the woman is not going to hurt Scott. This, however, is only the beginning of many experiences which White Fang will have to undergo until he becomes domesticated. Fortunately, White Fang has sufficient intelligence to totally obey Weedon Scott’s commands. When they arrive at the Scott estate, for example, they are greeted by a large sheepdog named Collie, who tries to attack White Fang immediately upon seeing him. White Fang instinctively knows, though, that this is a female of the species, so he turns his shoulder and shunts her attacks. The sheepdog, out of an ancient instinct, knows that this wolf is a natural enemy to her position as a protective sheepdog. Thus, Collie, the sheepdog, is introduced to us as the antagonist of White Fang, and her attack upon him will continue for some time. In fact, she will be the main bane of White Fang’s existence for some time. This is ironic because the novel will end with White Fang going off into the forest with the sheepdog in order to mate with her and thus begin a new breed of dog.
Upon their arrival at the house, a dog named Dick runs to greet Weedon Scott, and White Fang instinctively feels that his master is being attacked, and again he is prepared to kill. And he would have done so, had not Collie hit White Fang from the side and broke the line of his attack, which allows Weedon Scott time enough to stop the fight. Weedon knows that White Fang could have easily killed Dick.
After his first introduction to the estate, White Fang has a series of things which he has to learn. For example, the dog Dick would like to be friends with White Fang, but for too long in his life, White Fang has been adverse to friendships of any kind. Compared to the things that White Fang has to learn at Sierra Vista, life in the Northland was a very simple affair. For example, in the Northland, all that White Fang had to learn was that Mit-sah and Kloo-kooch belonged to Gray Beaver. However, in Sierra Vista, relationships are infinitely more complicated. In addition to all of the various members of Weedon Scotts family—mother, father, wife, two sisters, and two children—there are numerous servants and workers. Furthermore, White Fang has always disliked children, but now he has to learn to like Scott’s children, even though they pull his fur and hit him.
Moreover, White Fang cannot fight with any of the other dogs. The only domesticated animals in the North were dogs, and White Fang could attack them. But here in the Southland, White Fang cannot even kill the chickens—or any other domesticated animal. (After White Fang has, however, killed some chickens, Weedon Scott makes a bet with his father, that after Scott commands White Fang not to kill another chicken, that White Fang can be placed within the chicken coop itself, and that he will not touch another chicken. Weeden Scott is correct.)
Being intelligent, White Fang quickly learns that between him and all domesticated animals (cats, rabbits, turkeys, sheep, and goats), there must be no hostility. However, when he is out on the land with Weedon Scott, the creatures of the wild are lawful prey. Still, however, life is very complex in the valley for White Fang. For example, there are butcher shops, where fresh meat is hanging, but White Fang cannot eat it; children throw stones at him, and he can do nothing; and, in addition, tame dogs chase him, but he is not allowed to kill them.
