The Sea Wolf/ Jack London: Annotated

Description

The Sea-Wolf is the harrowing story of a Danish youth named Humphrey "Hump" van Weyden and his struggles against the sea, as well as his own inner demons. The narrative is set in the Pacific Ocean, and highlights the sheer primordial power of nature. More importantly, London's narrative explores how nature can affect the carefully ordered reality that people ascribe to themselves. Nature tears down the artifices that people put up. It reveals deeper, and at times, darker, selves. London's characters must journey to find whether or not they can live with what nature reveals about their inner selves.Humphrey van Weyden is a product of upper middle class society. He hopes to become a great writer one day, thus expanding his worldview. Because of this desire, van Weyden eagerly seeks out adventures and new experiences. His desire to experience more of life, and his willingness for change in his limited worldview, set the stage for his physical and mental journey, a journey that will cast him out upon the sea and end in a darkness he never knew was there. After the ship van Weyden is journeying on, the Martinez, has a collision, his life is forever changed when the mad captain of a ship called Ghost rescues him.London introduces the brooding character of Wolf Larsen, a murderous sea captain who works thematically as a counter to the initial naiveté of van Weyden. Larsen is everything that van Weyden is not: a bully, self-absorbed and uncaring. His crew tries to revolt against him several times, but he always gains the upper hand. Alongside Larsen and van Weyden is Maud Brewster, a young poet who is rescued by the Ghost with another set of castaways. Though both Larsen and van Weyden fall for Maud, she becomes romantically involved with van Weyden, thus causing much of the ill-feelings and bullying from Larsen toward van Weyden.In addition to Larsen's cruel treatment of his crew and van Weyden's growth as a hardened individual, the love triangle between the three sets up much of the narrative, with van Weyden and Larsen pitted against one another. One character can be viewed as already evil, introduced to the reader as a corrupted man, while the other--van Weyden--will succumb to inner demons on his perilous journey for new experiences. When Larsen falls ill, van Weyden and Maud sail away to an island, where van Weyden puts all of his knowhow as a hardened sailor to use. Meanwhile, Larsen has been attacked by his angry brother, Death Larsen, and the Ghost crashes on the same island where Maud and van Weyden are hiding out.Both Maud and van Weyden must fight continuously to overcome all of the trials that Larsen places in their path, though nature--including human nature--will be the final contender for all involved.London's narrative is similar to his other tales of hardship and survival in perilous conditions, yet it is also unique in its thematic approach to the human condition. London's characters in The Sea-Wolf must not only face the harsh environment of the unforgiving sea, they must face the unforgiving nature found in one another, as well as their own natures. When not trying to stay alive from the sea, van Weyden and Maud must try to survive the cruel taunts and machinations of Larsen. Van Weyden himself must also try to fight his own inner demons, which have formed from his battles with Larsen and the harsh environment. In this way, London shows how encounters with the harshness of nature can change a person for better or worse. In van Weyden's case, the sea corrupts his character, thus highlighting that mankind is not above reproach, nor is it superior to nature.Van Weyden is symbolic of an Everyman, standing in for all of mankind. His descent into madness is symbolic of man's own darkness, something that seemingly lies just under the surface. If one is not careful, London seems to suggest, or if one becomes too boastful or egoistic, that inner darkness, which is as powerful...

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