François Character Analysis in The Call of the Wild

An experienced and "swarthy” French-Canadian "half-breed,” François is a courier for the Canadian government, who teaches Buck to become a working dog. François and his sledding partner, Perrault, are wise and just masters. Not only are they skillful sledsmen, they handle their dogs with respect—disciplining, feeding, and protecting them according to the circumstances of the wild. François' speech is heavily accented, which London denotes in the phonetic spelling of his dialogue.

François Quotes in The Call of the Wild

The The Call of the Wild quotes below are all either spoken by François or refer to François. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

At a bound Buck took up the duties of leadership, and where judgment was required, and quick thinking and quick acting he showed himself superior even of Spitz, of whom Franois had never seen an equal.

Related Characters: Buck, Spitz, François

Page Number and Citation: 26

Explanation and Analysis:

François Character Timeline in The Call of the Wild

The timeline below shows where the character François appears in The Call of the Wild. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...the red sweater. Buck along with a female dog, Curly, are bought by two French-Canadians, François and Perrault. Departing from Seattle, they take Buck and Curly to the Northland on a... (full context)

...Spitz emerging from the fray with his tongue sticking out; he appears to be laughing. François, with an ax, and three other men, club the remaining dogs off of Curly's lifeless... (full context)

Buck receives "another shock" when François harnesses him to the traces. Having observed horses harnessed in a similar manner to haul... (full context)

Night descends upon the trail. Buck, troubled by cold and sleeplessness, attempts to enter François and Perrault's candle-lit tent, but they drive him away. Buck wanders the camp in search... (full context)

...Sol-leks, Buck receives "instruction" in dog sledding. They correct his errors with little nips, while François administers his whip when needed. A quick learner, Buck "masters his work" after toiling in... (full context)

...injured almost every single sled dog. With supplies depleted and the dogs riddled with bites, François worries that his dogs have been infected with madness, (rabies), and is uncertain that they... (full context)

...freezes or drowns. One morning at Pelly, Dolly suddenly goes mad and begins chasing Buck. François kills Dolly with an ax, but Buck is exhausted from the chase. Spitz, seeing an... (full context)

...subvert Spitz's dominance. Buck incites a subtle insurrection when he defends Pike against Spitz's authority. François's whip keeps order, but a showdown between Buck and Spitz is imminent as the team... (full context)

The morning after the fight, Françoisnotices that Spitz is missing and that Buck is covered with wounds. He surmises that Buck... (full context)

In Skaguay, François and Perrault become minor celebrities for the record timing of their run. They celebrate for... (full context)