Sea Wolf by Jack London Term Paper

Sea Wolf" by Jack London. Specifically, it will look at what views of human nature are expressed in the novel, and how the main characters justify their beliefs about human nature and behavior.

THE SEA WOLF

The Sea Wolf" is one of Jack London's most famous books, and one of the first of over 50 books he would write. In this novel, he gives the reader a glimpse at the many sides of human nature, from the cruelty and heartlessness of the captain, to the naivete and kindness of the main character, Humphrey Van Weyden, called "Hump" by the captain and crew. He is a gentleman in the middle of some of the most crass and unappealing people he has ever met.

The captain, Wolf Larsen, is a cruel man, who does not invite the adoration of his crew. They hate him, and obey him because of his brutality and violence. He is a hard master, and seems to have no heart, no soul. Yet, he reads the classics, "At once he became an enigma" (London and Gannett 34). His beliefs that "life is a mess" are justified by the existence of the sailors, who he says only live to eat, and make more money.Life is a circle. His beliefs are totally justified in his own mind, and Hump cannot change them, no matter how hopeless they seem to him.

Hump is hijacked into conditions he had never thought possible. He sees the good in people, but comes to hate the cook, who is cruel to him, and fights the captain for the poet, Maud Brewster. "I had lived a placid, uneventful, sedentary existence all my days -- the life of a scholar and a recluse on an assured and comfortable income. Violent life and athletic sports had never appealed to me. I had always been a book-worm; so my sisters and father had called me during my childhood. I had gone camping but once in my life, and….....