John Thornton

John Thornton is a frontiersman and gold-seeker in The Call of the Wild by Jack London, an experienced Klondike traveler camped at the mouth of the White River while he recovers from frozen feet. Calm, plain-spoken, and unafraid to tell hard truths, he knows the country and the breed of men who underestimate it, and he gives sound advice in the certainty it will be ignored.

Thornton becomes the great human bond in Buck's life. When he sees Buck beaten by Hal, one of the dog's reckless new owners, he intervenes and takes the half-dead animal as his own. Where Buck's earlier handlers, Perrault and François among them, were fair but transient, Thornton cares for his dogs as if they were his children, and Buck answers with a fierce, adoring devotion unlike anything he knew on Judge Miller's estate. Thornton's partners, Hans and Pete, arrive on a raft and come to understand Buck and the unusual hold the man has over him.

Living close to the earth and thinking simply, Thornton draws out a loyalty in Buck so complete that the dog will attempt almost anything at his command, even as the wild keeps calling Buck away from the fire.