The Sea-Wolf by Jack London

Published on April 16, 2025

I finished reading The Sea-Wolf by Jack London. I found the story thrilling, but as in every Jack London novel, what struck me was the depth of his characters.

I won't talk about the story itself as that would have no added value since summaries are available everywhere on the Internet.

I'll only develop several points that struck me. I like doing this exercise because it allows me to return to my notes a few years later and reread what had moved me in the works I've read. It's a way to keep a living record of my readings and see how my perception evolves over time.

Wolf Larsen

Wolf Larsen is nihilistic. He grew up alone, without parents, in misery. He built his entire wretched life without anyone's help, starting from nothing until becoming captain of his own ship. He educated himself by reading borrowed books and asking questions to the sailors around him when he was just a simple sailor. But all these efforts made him unhappy. He fought his whole life and it didn't pay off. The harsh law of life. You can do everything right, but it doesn't always pay.

One phrase deeply struck me when he compares himself to his brother, as cruel as he is: "My only mistake was opening a book." His brother, unlike him, never did. He never reflected, never asked himself questions about the meaning of life. He's happy because he only knows that - violence and misery. Wolf Larsen tried to rise above this life without success. He's miserable because of it.

Despite his brutality throughout the novel, I was surprised that he showed sensitivity at times. He remains human and it's just a shell he developed around himself.

Leach and Johnson

Leach and Johnson, two crew members, showed honesty and bravery despite their sad living conditions like all the other sailors.

They didn't let themselves be broken by Wolf Larsen and fought for what is good and just. They showed courage and nobility by fighting repeatedly against the violent Wolf Larsen. Fights that brought them close to death several times.

Attempting to flee the ship in a boat, they found themselves caught in a storm. Wolf Larsen played with them with implacable cruelty, letting them believe he would rescue them, before turning away each time, condemning them to hope in vain. Exhausted from rowing for hours, broken by cold and despair, their boat finally capsized. They died drowned, in suffering and abandonment.

I found this interesting because it makes you reflect on our behavior. Was it really necessary to fight at all costs if it meant dying in these circumstances without having managed to change anything?

Shouldn't they have "shut their mouths," swallowed their dignity and stayed alive while waiting for an opportunity to have a positive impact on the world?

They died cruelly without having had any impact.

Omnipresent Death

There are many deaths throughout the novel. It's omnipresent in sailor life.

Each death is quickly forgotten. The next day, it's as if the person had never existed. Everyone has moved on. It's tragic.

I particularly think of the sailor Johansen who dies crossing to the other side of the deck. We don't really know the reason for his death, it's so "common" in sailor life.

Tomorrow, you die – it's as if you had never existed. It's similar to the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. Deceased people are forgotten. If a person dies without descendants, their memory will not only never be perpetuated, but will be forgotten the next day.

Resistance to Life

The characters fight to the end for their survival. Despite all the violence suffered, despite their disastrous living conditions, no one wishes to die when the hour comes. They fight at all costs. One might think that after everything they've lived through, the little hope of a better life – when death comes they let themselves go. No, they want to continue fighting. Humans are strong and determined, it's impressive.

The most striking example is Wolf Larsen at the end of the novel when he's stranded on the island. He knows he has no way to escape, that his illness is catching up with him – he can no longer see or hear and paralysis is gaining ground. But he doesn't want to die and fights to the end.

When death arrives, the human being is more determined than ever. It's in these moments that he draws his last strength.

Brutality and Ignorance

After being rescued and taken aboard the Ghost, Hump is immediately struck by the brutality and lack of education of the sailors. He discovers a universe at the antipodes of his own.

I found this particularly striking because, quite often, we evolve in a circle of people from the same background as us, which creates the illusion that everyone thinks, lives and feels things in the same way. But when confronted with other social realities, the differences can be striking.

Coming from a comfortable and intellectual environment, Hump finds himself facing rough men, little inclined to reflection or subtlety. Apart from Wolf Larsen, none seem capable of deep thought or constructed reasoning.

Conversely, Hump will have to confront another form of wealth: that of effort. He discovers the value of physical work, mental resistance, and everything that must be mobilized to survive in the harsh world of manual workers.

Thomas Mugridge

Mugridge is the sailor responsible for preparing meals. He's described as unpleasant and dirty.

Like Larsen, he has lived all the world's misery. To such an extent that he has accumulated unlimited frustration and has become terribly jealous of Hump.

One passage deeply struck me. He tells Hump about his journey and all the misery he grew up in. He starts pouring out his hatred against Hump because he didn't have the chance like him to be born into a well-off family.

Like Wolf Larsen, he did his best with the resources he had but it wasn't enough for him to get by.

Like all sailors, he doesn't escape Larsen's violence and cruelty. Plunged into water, he has his foot torn off by a shark.

In the novel, no one is safe from a tragic accident.

It's in Trials That Man Reveals Himself

Through the numerous obstacles encountered aboard the ship, Hump becomes a man. He even discovers a form of pleasure in self-improvement, in confronting adversity. At 35, it's by meeting these challenges that he finally accesses his full maturity, he becomes a Man.

Man is made to surpass himself and he takes pleasure in doing so.

I've observed this myself: trials are never pleasant to live through. They're hard, heavy, sometimes discouraging. But once you've overcome them, they give way to a feeling of deep accomplishment. And deep down, that's what makes me proud and happy.

Maud's Influence on Hump's Behavior

Maud's late arrival in the novel marks a real metamorphosis in Hump. He falls in love, and this love never stops growing with time. The more his feelings intensify, the more he draws from within himself a rage to live, a fierce will to continue fighting. Maud multiplies everything in him: his strength, his potential, his ingenuity, his endurance, his resistance – on all levels, she elevates him. Thanks to her, he discovers a version of himself he didn't know: his full potential, as if he were reaching Super Saiyan level.

That's the power of women. Their unique gift: revealing in us what we have that's greatest.

The Influence of Women on Men

Another passage related to women particularly struck me. Hump perceives the brute violence, the almost animal roughness of the men aboard the ship. And through this observation, he comes to an obvious conclusion: these men need the presence of women. Because they bring what the world has torn from them: gentleness, balance. He then understands that man and woman are not opposed, but deeply complementary. One tempers the other, and together, they form a more just, more human whole.

The Novel's End, Which Philosophy Was Right?

On one side, there's Wolf Larsen: for him, it's the law of the strongest that governs the world. This philosophy has served him rather well; at least in appearance. But it comes with a heavy price: a life of solitude, constant mistrust, and permanent combat to maintain his status as dominant, as "alpha wolf." With such a vision of life, you always end up losing, sooner or later – a moment of weakness, a single inattention, and everything collapses.

On the opposite side, Hump chooses another path, that of compromise. He refuses to fight when he knows the battle is lost in advance. He favors prudence, strategy. A particularly striking discussion between him and Maud addresses precisely this subject. Initially, she doesn't understand his reasoning. But by observing the tragic fate of Leach and Johnson, those sailors broken for having confronted Larsen head-on, she finally grasps Hump's logic.

That said, Hump isn't cowardly. When he feels he has a chance of winning, he's ready to take risks. His philosophy is more nuanced, more complex. Some might see cowardice in it, but in the long term, it's a winning strategy. He's the only survivor of the ship. Larsen dies prisoner of his own ideology, and all those who wanted to fight at all costs lost their lives.

Over time, Hump's philosophy was a much better choice.

Conclusion

I loved The Sea-Wolf. The story is captivating, but what struck me most was the depth of reflection it offers on individuals and their life philosophies. Everyone can draw different lessons from it, according to their own sensitivity and perspective. This is, in my eyes, what distinguishes great works: they don't deliver a single message, but open a space where each reader can find their own truth.