The White Fang's father is a wolf, mother, Kichi, - half wolf, half dog. He has no name yet. He was born in Northern Wilderness and survived the only one of the whole brood. In the North, one often has to go hungry, and this killed his sisters and brothers. Father, the one-eyed wolf, soon dies in an unequal battle with a trot. The wolf cub and mother remain together, he often accompanies the she-wolf on a hunt and soon begins to comprehend the "law of prey": eat - or eat you yourself. A wolf cub cannot articulate it clearly, but simply lives on it. Besides the law of prey, there are many others to obey. Life playing in a wolf cub, the forces that control his body serve him as an inexhaustible source of happiness.
The world is full of surprises, and once on the way to the creek the wolf cub stumbles upon unknown creatures - people. He does not run away, but falls to the ground, “fettered by fear and ready to express the humility with which his distant ancestor went to a person to bask in a fire made by him”. One of the Indians comes closer, and when his hand touches the cub, he grabs her teeth and immediately gets hit on the head. The wolf whines with pain and horror, the mother hurries to help him, and suddenly one of the Indians imperiously shouts: “Kichi!”, Recognizing her dog in it (“her father had a wolf, and her mother was a dog”), who ran away a year ago, when hunger again. The fearless wolf mother, to the horror and amazement of the wolf, crawls to the Indian on his belly. Gray Beaver again becomes the owner of Kichi. He now also owns the wolf cub, to whom he gives the name - White Fang.
It is difficult for White Fang to get used to a new life in the camp of the Indians: he is constantly forced to repel the attacks of dogs, he has to strictly observe the laws of people whom he considers gods, often cruel, sometimes just. He realizes that “the body of God is sacred,” and never again tries to bite a person. Causing only one hatred among his brethren and people and always enmity with everyone, White Fang develops quickly, but one-sidedly. With such a life, neither good feelings nor the need for affection can arise in him. But in agility and cunning no one can compare with him; he runs faster than all the other dogs, and knows how to fight angrier, fiercer and smarter than they are. Otherwise, he will not survive. During the change of camp site, White Fang escapes, but, finding himself alone, feels fear and loneliness. Driven by them, he seeks out the Indians. White Fang becomes a sled dog. After some time, he was put at the head of the team, which further enhances the hatred of his fellow men, whom he rules with ferocious inflexibility. Hard work in the team strengthens the strength of the White Fang, and his mental development is completed. The world around is harsh and cruel, and White Fang has no illusions on this score. Devotion to man becomes a law for him, and from a wolf cub born on the outside, a dog is obtained, in which there is a lot of a wolf, and yet it is a dog, not a wolf.
Gray Beaver brings several bales with furs and a bale with moccasins and mittens to Fort Yukon, hoping for a big profit. Assessing the demand for his product, he decides to trade slowly, just not to cheapen. For the first time in Fort White Fang sees white people, and they seem to him to be gods, possessing even greater power than the Indians. But the manners of the gods in the North are quite rude. One of the favorite entertainments is fights, which are started by local dogs with dogs that have just arrived with the newcomers on the boat. There is no equal to White Fang in this lesson. Among the old-timers, there is a man who enjoys dogfights especially. This is a vicious, miserable coward and freak nicknamed Handsome Smith, who does all kinds of dirty work. Once, having drunk Gray Beaver, Handsome Smith buys the White Fang from him and makes it hard to understand who his new master is with brutal beatings. White Fang hates this crazy god, but is forced to obey him. Handsome Smith makes White Fang a real professional fighter and arranges dog fights. For a man who is distraught with hatred, hunted by White Fang, a fight becomes the only way to prove himself, he invariably emerges as the winner, and Handsome Smith collects money from spectators who lose the bet. But the fight with the bulldog almost becomes fatal for the White Fang. A bulldog clings to his chest and, without unclenching his jaws, hangs on him, catching his teeth higher and getting close to his throat. Seeing that the battle was lost, Handsome Smith, having lost the rest of his mind, begins to beat the White Fang and trample it underfoot. The dog is saved by a tall young man, a visiting field engineer, Weedon Scott. Having unclenched the bulldog's jaw with the help of a revolving muzzle, he frees the White Fang from the death grip of the enemy. Then he buys the dog from Handsome Smith.
White Fang pretty soon comes to its senses and demonstrates to the new owner its anger and rage. But Scott has the patience to tame a dog with affection, and this awakens in White Fang all those feelings that dozed and had already half-died out in him. Scott sets out to reward the White Fang for all that he had to endure, "atone for the sin in which man was guilty before him." White Fang pays for love with love. He also recognizes the sorrows inherent in love - when the owner unexpectedly leaves, White Fang loses interest in everything in the world and is ready to die. And when Scott returns, he comes up for the first time and presses his head against him. One evening, near the house of Scott, there is a growl and someone's screams. This handsome Smith tried unsuccessfully to steal the White Fang, but pretty much paid for it. Weedon Scott has to return home, to California, and at first he is not going to take a dog with him - he is unlikely to endure life in a hot climate. But the closer the departure, the more White Fang worries, and the engineer hesitates, but still leaves the dog. But when White Fang, breaking a window, gets out of the locked house and resorts to the gangways of the ship, Scott's heart does not hold.
In California, White Fang has to get used to completely new conditions, and he succeeds. The Collie Shepherd, who has long plagued the dog, eventually becomes his girlfriend. White Fang begins to love Scott's kids; he also likes Whedon's father, the judge. Judge Scott White Fang manages to save one of his convicts, inveterate criminal Jim Hall, from revenge. White Fang bit Hall, but he threw three bullets into the dog; in the dog’s battle, the hind leg and several ribs were broken. Doctors believe that White Fang has no chance of survival, but "the northern wilderness rewarded him with an iron body and vitality." After a long recovery, the White Fang removes the last plaster cast, the last bandage, and he staggers out onto the sunny lawn. Puppies creep to the dog, him and Collie, and he, lying in the sun, slowly sank into a nap.
