The Sea Wolf

Description

Author of books as famous as White Fang and Call of the Wild – a novel that is still required reading for most students within the US – Jack London has often proven himself an existentialist, as well as a skilled storyteller. The Sea Wolf introduces characters that are as complex and believable as real life individuals, and a story arc that will take you by surprise, as you explore the seven seas alongside two men with seemingly opposite views on human morality.

The story first introduces Humphrey van Weydon, a well-read intellectual, whose steamer is rammed by another ship. Wolf Larsen, a strong and uncompromising ship’s Captain rescues van Weydon from certain death, then demands that he remain in his service. While, at first, the intellectual van Weydon is reluctant to comply, he soon bows to Larsen’s superior physical strength, but later finds that there is far more to the Captain’s personality than the surface may show.

The book essentially presents us with the adventure that the two men embark on, as well as their philosophical conflicts. Van Weydon believes that everyone has a soul, while Larsen sees mainly evil in the world, and attempts to do everything in his power to serve himself above everyone else. Despite this fact, the two character become far more dynamic and complex than we would first assume, Larsen’s courage and determination showing in times of trial, while van Weydon proving that he isn’t just a coward hiding behind his literary knowledge.

The beauty of this story is most especially the fact that London never attempts to tip the balance between Larsen and van Weydon, their opposing points of view seeming to reflect complementary actions throughout the challenging situations the two find themselves in. If you like a good adventure, and you want to enjoy a book as exciting as it is introspective, The Sea Wolf will likely offer a reading experience you can fully relate to.
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