White Fang's Role in Venus Among the Fishes
White Fang's pod has been in Glacier Strait since before the beginning of the book. Salmon come to spawn in Glacier Strait, and the killer whales came to eat them. There is a pod of Pacific White-sided Dolphins that lives in the Strait, and the orcas feast on them, as well as the salmon. Because of the appetite of the killer whales, the dolphin's numbers have been dwindling. This is the first summer the orcas have come to Glacier Strait.
White Fang is leading a group of orca towards the dolphin pod. The dolphin narrator states that the killer whales don't usually attack a closely-grouped pod of dolphins, but sometimes they do crazy things.
White Fang's size is described as, "almost four times as long as [the biggest male dolphin in the pod] and weighed nearly thirty times as much." He appears to be the largest orca in the pod.
Orcas are described as being able to make various noises, including clicks, squeals, creaks, whistles, squawks, barks, and roars.
Dolphins and orcas have similar, yet different speech patterns. They are able to communicate, and White Fang threatens the dolphins, telling them that there isn't enough fish for everyone. He wants the dolphins to leave their home.
The narrator says that orcas eat nearly anything, including trout, salmon, dolphins, birds, other fish, and other dolphins. However, their favorite food is seal pup.
He menaces the dolphins, rearing his upper body out of the water. The dolphin leader says that there's enough fish for everyone, if nobody gets too greedy. White Fang responds to this by splashing the water violently, roaring, and showing his teeth to the dolphins. White Fang then splashes viciously and dives towards the dolphin pod. The dolphins scatter in many directions to avoid the angry predator.
In the commotion, a young male dolphin leaps out of the water and takes a bite out of White Fang's dorsal fin. The killer whale dives briefly, when he surfaces, he makes a commotion and orders his pod to attack the dolphins.
The male dolphins do not hesitate and swim rapidly at the orcas, confusing the larger mammals. The dolphins escape, and the killer whales do not pursue them.
In the morning, White Fang leads his pod to attack the dolphins, the killer whales attempt to force the dolphins closer to shore to prevent escape. Some of the dolphins are able to escape, while others are trapped.
The family of the dolphin that bit White Fang escapes into an underwater cave. The orcas are angry, and White Fang orders a smaller and younger killer whale to swim after them. After some protest, to which White Fang roars at, he does so.
The smaller whale gets stuck in the entrance and cannot move in or out. The rest of his pod tries to get him out, but to no avail. The dolphins, trapped as well, decide to help the young whale and push on his face. Once the orcas figure out what's going on, they pull on his tail, and soon the littler one is free.
As soon as the young whale is free, White Fang's mother scolds White Fang and slaps him several times for what he did by nearly getting the smaller whale killed. White Fang takes this treatment silently. After his mother comforts the younger whale, she leads the pod away.
The narrator states that the orcas slept in the mornings when it was foggy. A group of the orcas go the same way as the dolphin narrator and her brother do. White Fang and some other killer whales are near the dolphins, when a ship approaches. The narrator states that for short distances, dolphins could outswim killer whales, so the dolphins prepare to leave. The whales discuss how some dolphins would make a good dinner as the boat draws closer.
The orcas don't seem to notice the boat, until a net is thrown around White Fang. The other whales discuss with him the best way to free the captured whale, but when he tried to dive underwater, his tail got tangled. He splashes around and even tries to bite the net, but he is still stuck. He threatens and pleads, but there is no escape. The rest of the orcas swim around him, unable to help.
The brother of the narrator goes to tease White Fang, swimming exceedingly close to the whale. The net is started to be brought on ship, and the brother dolphin is stuck. The sister dolphin helps him escape, as the killer whale is brought aboard.
White Fang is dropped in a tank, and the boat takes off. The rest of his pod follows it in despair. The next day, White Fang's mother is leading the pod back to Glacier Strait, unable to keep up with the boat carrying her son away.
He is not seen for quite some time in the book, until the narrator and her brother are captured and taken to Paradise Cove and have been there for a while.
White Fang is placed in a tank one night, and in the morning, he's jumping in the air, trying to find a way out.
The older brother of the narrator had been in Paradise Cove for a long time, and he speaks to the orca, and the killer whale asks if they were also prisoners. It takes quite a while for the older brother to get White Fang to understand about Paradise Cove. Once he understands, White Fang responds slowly, "Dead fish. No room to swim. No room to dive. No family. No friends. Alone. Alone."
The humans that work at Paradise Cove try to work with the killer whale, but he doesn't want to be in their shows, and he gets angry at the trainers, showing his teeth, splashing with his tail, and using his fins to hit them. All the trainers are afraid to get into the tank with him.
The humans can't decide what to do with the whale, and name him "Monstro". One trainer thinks that they should spend more time training White Fang, and that they should not feed him as many fish until he cooperates. Another trainer thinks that that process is cruel and should not be done.
The trainer that protested works with White Fang, bringing him fish and trying to get the whale to hit a ball. But, White Fang ignores the ball and turns his back, swimming away to the other side of the tank.
He gets more and more depressed, he only swims in circles and doesn't have any interest in anything. He doesn't reply to the dolphins, and in the night, he moans and groans. However sad he was, the humans kept working with him to do tricks. But, he never earned his fish. One of the trainers though, sneaked him fish every day. However, White Fang didn't have much of an appetite and wouldn't eat many fish. He lost a lot of weight and grew measurably thinner.
One night, the trainer that had been working with White Fang sneaked into his tank and cut the chain-link fence, freeing the distraught whale.
But, White Fang thought it was a trick, and remained inside the tank, looking outside to the open ocean. The trainer pulled on his flippers to try to get the whale to move, but only succeeded in irritating the orca, who clapped his jaws to show his anger.
Finally, the narrator dolphin told him he was free to leave, and the whale finally realized what was going on. Excited, the whale exited his pen and swam into the ocean.
As he left, he thanked the narrator and told her he was going home. His grateful, parting words to the dolphin were that he would only eat salmon and seals, never again would he taste the flesh of dolphins.
White Fang is leading a group of orca towards the dolphin pod. The dolphin narrator states that the killer whales don't usually attack a closely-grouped pod of dolphins, but sometimes they do crazy things.
White Fang's size is described as, "almost four times as long as [the biggest male dolphin in the pod] and weighed nearly thirty times as much." He appears to be the largest orca in the pod.
Orcas are described as being able to make various noises, including clicks, squeals, creaks, whistles, squawks, barks, and roars.
Dolphins and orcas have similar, yet different speech patterns. They are able to communicate, and White Fang threatens the dolphins, telling them that there isn't enough fish for everyone. He wants the dolphins to leave their home.
The narrator says that orcas eat nearly anything, including trout, salmon, dolphins, birds, other fish, and other dolphins. However, their favorite food is seal pup.
He menaces the dolphins, rearing his upper body out of the water. The dolphin leader says that there's enough fish for everyone, if nobody gets too greedy. White Fang responds to this by splashing the water violently, roaring, and showing his teeth to the dolphins. White Fang then splashes viciously and dives towards the dolphin pod. The dolphins scatter in many directions to avoid the angry predator.
In the commotion, a young male dolphin leaps out of the water and takes a bite out of White Fang's dorsal fin. The killer whale dives briefly, when he surfaces, he makes a commotion and orders his pod to attack the dolphins.
The male dolphins do not hesitate and swim rapidly at the orcas, confusing the larger mammals. The dolphins escape, and the killer whales do not pursue them.
In the morning, White Fang leads his pod to attack the dolphins, the killer whales attempt to force the dolphins closer to shore to prevent escape. Some of the dolphins are able to escape, while others are trapped.
The family of the dolphin that bit White Fang escapes into an underwater cave. The orcas are angry, and White Fang orders a smaller and younger killer whale to swim after them. After some protest, to which White Fang roars at, he does so.
The smaller whale gets stuck in the entrance and cannot move in or out. The rest of his pod tries to get him out, but to no avail. The dolphins, trapped as well, decide to help the young whale and push on his face. Once the orcas figure out what's going on, they pull on his tail, and soon the littler one is free.
As soon as the young whale is free, White Fang's mother scolds White Fang and slaps him several times for what he did by nearly getting the smaller whale killed. White Fang takes this treatment silently. After his mother comforts the younger whale, she leads the pod away.
The narrator states that the orcas slept in the mornings when it was foggy. A group of the orcas go the same way as the dolphin narrator and her brother do. White Fang and some other killer whales are near the dolphins, when a ship approaches. The narrator states that for short distances, dolphins could outswim killer whales, so the dolphins prepare to leave. The whales discuss how some dolphins would make a good dinner as the boat draws closer.
The orcas don't seem to notice the boat, until a net is thrown around White Fang. The other whales discuss with him the best way to free the captured whale, but when he tried to dive underwater, his tail got tangled. He splashes around and even tries to bite the net, but he is still stuck. He threatens and pleads, but there is no escape. The rest of the orcas swim around him, unable to help.
The brother of the narrator goes to tease White Fang, swimming exceedingly close to the whale. The net is started to be brought on ship, and the brother dolphin is stuck. The sister dolphin helps him escape, as the killer whale is brought aboard.
White Fang is dropped in a tank, and the boat takes off. The rest of his pod follows it in despair. The next day, White Fang's mother is leading the pod back to Glacier Strait, unable to keep up with the boat carrying her son away.
He is not seen for quite some time in the book, until the narrator and her brother are captured and taken to Paradise Cove and have been there for a while.
White Fang is placed in a tank one night, and in the morning, he's jumping in the air, trying to find a way out.
The older brother of the narrator had been in Paradise Cove for a long time, and he speaks to the orca, and the killer whale asks if they were also prisoners. It takes quite a while for the older brother to get White Fang to understand about Paradise Cove. Once he understands, White Fang responds slowly, "Dead fish. No room to swim. No room to dive. No family. No friends. Alone. Alone."
The humans that work at Paradise Cove try to work with the killer whale, but he doesn't want to be in their shows, and he gets angry at the trainers, showing his teeth, splashing with his tail, and using his fins to hit them. All the trainers are afraid to get into the tank with him.
The humans can't decide what to do with the whale, and name him "Monstro". One trainer thinks that they should spend more time training White Fang, and that they should not feed him as many fish until he cooperates. Another trainer thinks that that process is cruel and should not be done.
The trainer that protested works with White Fang, bringing him fish and trying to get the whale to hit a ball. But, White Fang ignores the ball and turns his back, swimming away to the other side of the tank.
He gets more and more depressed, he only swims in circles and doesn't have any interest in anything. He doesn't reply to the dolphins, and in the night, he moans and groans. However sad he was, the humans kept working with him to do tricks. But, he never earned his fish. One of the trainers though, sneaked him fish every day. However, White Fang didn't have much of an appetite and wouldn't eat many fish. He lost a lot of weight and grew measurably thinner.
One night, the trainer that had been working with White Fang sneaked into his tank and cut the chain-link fence, freeing the distraught whale.
But, White Fang thought it was a trick, and remained inside the tank, looking outside to the open ocean. The trainer pulled on his flippers to try to get the whale to move, but only succeeded in irritating the orca, who clapped his jaws to show his anger.
Finally, the narrator dolphin told him he was free to leave, and the whale finally realized what was going on. Excited, the whale exited his pen and swam into the ocean.
As he left, he thanked the narrator and told her he was going home. His grateful, parting words to the dolphin were that he would only eat salmon and seals, never again would he taste the flesh of dolphins.