The Sea-Wolf by Jack London | Teen Ink

The Sea-Wolf by Jack London

March 30, 2018
By itsreal BRONZE, Beijing, Other
itsreal BRONZE, Beijing, Other
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

The Sea Wolf has an undisputed great position in world literature and as part of the collection of classic novels in American literature. In Jack London's literary writing, this book has long been recognized as his most famous. With a hundred years of examination, the value this novel has in unchallengeable. Generally, upon first reading of The Sea Wolf, many readers read it as a legend. The story is set in the ocean, and all the action takes place in a sailboat called The Ghost. The protagonist is the captain named Wolf Larsen. It is very easy to arouse the reader's curiosity to learn about three elements of: "heaven, earth and man". Ultimately, Jack London explores the oceans, sailboat, and the qualities that make up a captain.

 

Jack London's literary writing, both his short stories and long stories, have plots that are compelling. As many readers read The Sea Wolf, for instance, they will notice that the story is like a rollercoaster, it goes up and down, but plot lines do connect to each other. Wolf Larsen, cheating and through violence, gets himself a bunch of sailors to follow him to go from San Francisco to the Bering Sea to hunt seals. Then, they get into a serious boat accident when passing through the San Francisco bay, and he is rescued by a man named Humphrey Van Verden who is a writer and is written in the first person "I" in the book. “I” was forced to go together to hunt seals. The Ghost was full of ambivalence from the start. The ship's mate died soon after sailing, and the Wolf Larsen became a despotic ruler of the seafarers. He was strong-willed and studied literature and art quite well. No one wanted to rebel against him.


Then, "I" was desperate to return to San Francisco because Wolf Larson had nearly killed him. The cook, Magritch, stole a hundred dollars from him, and Wolf Larsen took him away violently. Sailors Johnson and Leach defy Wolf Larsen by killing his chief, Wolf took revenge by repeated fights. However, they had been thrown into the sea and Wolf Larsen did not even look at them when he left, their ending came by drowning in the ocean.
Then, the "ghost" was on the way to save Maud Brewster, the woman writer who had been floating on the sea in the wreck of a mail ship, and was about to seize Maud Brewster, despite the love between "I" and the female writer. In order to entertainment himself, Wolf Larsen hung the cook above the water at the back of the boat, and the shark bit off one of the cook's feet. To fight for the hunter and the board, by any means, for the sake of the "death" of his brother, "death" Larsen's "Macedon" ship; what is more, Wolf Larson suffers from severe head pain, and when he is sick, he has a splitting headache and is bedridden, but he never says a word and is patient. The boat was in despair, and the escapee did not come to a good end, but "I", for the sake of the noble love of Maud, had escaped in the sampan while Wolf Larsen was ill. After the escape, "I" and Maud drift on an island, called" show kindness to my island ", through hard work in the winter and waited for the chance of rescue.
But, before long, The Ghost come here, "I" and Maud seem to run, but Wolf Larsen has serious an illness, all the sailors on The Ghost betray him, and go and seek refuge with Wolf’s brother, "death" Larsen. Wolf Larsen was often sick with paralysis, deafness, aphasia, heels, but he refuses to leave The Ghost. While "I" and Maud are repairing The Ghost, he tried to stop them and even tried to burn off The Ghost. "I" and Maud had a lot of trouble, but finally got The Ghost ready, just in time to catch the death of Wolf Larson. After his burial at sea, "I" and Maud set sail for Japan, and are found by the United States and finally rescued.


The Sea Wolf is very different compared to contemporary European and American novels, you do not need to read patiently for thirty or fifty pages, within three to five pages you will be attracted to the story. But after a pleasant reading, some readers might ask: is a character like Wolf Larson believable? Most commentators believe that Wolf Larsen is created by Jack London because he is influenced by a philosophical idea that Nietzsche birthed in which he adopts a "superman" image in the book. Jack London himself has said that The sea Wolf was the result of his acceptance of the idea of the "superman" governing the slave masses.


Nietzsche, German philosopher and voluntarist, believed that the decisive force of nature and human society is our human will, and the process of history is "the process of power will to achieve its own, the purpose of life is to exert power" and "expand the self". The philosophy of "superman" is put forward that the "superman" is the creator of history. The masses are "slaves". They are the tools of the "superman" to realize his power and opposes the principle of equality. It is the law of the jungle which is morality. It is considered that art is a form of expression of the will of power, and an artist is a person who is highly expansive and self-expressive.


In contrast, one thing is certain: Jack London is Wolf Larsen, who starts from conceptualization, not from the prototype of life. Wolf Larsen is the "superman" in The Ghost, and his every move reflects his will. Everywhere in the "power play", others are just his slaves and controlled by him, they are his "tools to realize his will to power". He only acts according to his own "principles of strong means everything", it is easy to separate people into different kinds, and focuses on the treatment of those people who are not docile. He is super physically strong, and he follows the law of the jungle. Also, there was a time Johnson and Leach dare to challenge his power by secretly killing Johnson the chief, and Wolf Larsen goes to their room to investigate it, Johnson and Leach follow their plan and convince seven or eight sailors to bite Wolf Larsen together, knock him down, kick him, use mouths and teeth to chew, and are determined to physically destroy him.


However, Wolf Larson, by his own power, quietly saves himself and struggles out the predicament. No matter what the physical torture is and how it hurt, he never fell, never screamed, climbed the stairs up toward the board, and approached the hatch. It was a thrilling fight, a breathless struggle, and I was only able to take a breath when Wolf Larsen finally went out of the hatch. I could not only feel Wolf Larson's "superman" image in the book, but also admit it. This is the writing of a legendary hero, but because of the specific environment, it makes the legendary hero alive and materialized and materialized, which is also another great feature in The Sea Wolf.


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Shalley said...
on Apr. 7 2018 at 10:21 am
Shalley,
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I like this book review. Good job.