The Sea-Wolf

Jack London's 1904 novel follows a refined literary critic rescued by the brutal captain Wolf Larsen aboard a sealing schooner.

Author

Jack London

First published

1904

Setting

Late 19th-century Pacific

Genre

Sea adventure

Read it if you like

Sea adventure with a charismatic, dangerous captain.

On screen and stage

Several film versions

Overview

Humphrey Van Weyden, a literary critic, survives a ferry collision in San Francisco Bay and is picked up by the sealing schooner Ghost. Its captain, Wolf Larsen, is a violent, self-taught philosopher who forces Humphrey to work as a cabin boy. The novel is a battle of will and ideas as much as a sea story.

Themes

• Might versus morality
• Individualism
• Survival

Background

London sailed on a sealing schooner in 1893, aged seventeen, and drew on that experience. The Sea-Wolf was serialised in 1903–04 and published as a book in 1904.

Why it endures

Wolf Larsen is one of London's most vivid characters, and the book mixes adventure with philosophical argument.

Quotes