The quotation describes the rule of power that White Fang has learned through experience: those with greater strength command obedience, while those with less power can be dominated. London presents this as a practical code produced by a harsh environment rather than as a moral principle to be admired. White Fang understands survival in terms of rank, force and the consequences of challenging stronger figures.

The line also reflects the novel’s wider concern with how behaviour is shaped by treatment and circumstance. White Fang repeatedly learns from violence, punishment and competition, and his conduct towards others develops within that system. The phrase “the law” therefore refers less to formal rules than to an unwritten hierarchy enforced through strength. The quotation can be read as an observation about domination and submission, showing how unequal power can become normalised when it repeatedly determines safety, status and survival.