National Identity In Captain Wolf Larsen's The Sea Wolf

A nation will only be successful if all members share similar values or similar goals. Any number of people who live under one governing power will only be able to thrive and prosper if they are united by a set of beliefs that will lead each person in the nation to success. For example, the United States has an American National Identity which strives for equality, fairness, justice, and progress. This common identity creates a sense of pride or patriotism within all of the members, making a more feasible path to achieving the goals previously mentioned. In The Sea Wolf by Jack London, two unconventional nations are presented as settings for the novel: Captain Wolf Larsen’s nation of the Ghost and Humphrey (Hump) Van Weyden’s nation of Endeavor

The Ghost is solely governed by Wolf’s beliefs which value things such as self-reliance, physical strength, and competition. These values are introduced early on in the novel, for example, in one of his first conversations with Hump, where they discuss Hump’s wealth. Wolf says, “Who earned it? Eh? I thought so. Your father. You stand on dead man’s legs. You’ve never had any of your own. You couldn’t walk alone between two sunrises and hustle the meat for your belly for three meals.” (London 20). Even though Hump is a successful writer, his credibility is demolished on the Ghost as Wolf believes the only way to support oneself is through the actions of oneself. Wolf doesn’t originally appreciate or even respect Hump because he was only able to succeed with the help of his father. In addition to this, Wolf knows that Hump hasn’t ever had to do manual labor in his life, which is why he lacks physical strength. The same day that Hump arrives, Wolf promotes a teenage boy in order to place Hump at the “bottom of the totem pole.” He says to the boy, “Big for your age at that, with muscles like a horse. Pack up your kit and go forward into the forecastle. You’re a boat puller now. You’re promoted; see?” (London 23) as if to explain to Hump that he will not be anyone of importance on the ship until he has bulked up and proven his

Those working on the Ghost hate Wolf and hate living on the ship. Wolf wants all of his men to be strong and self-sufficient to guarantee that their work will bring Wolf wealth and success. One way that Wolf is able to keep himself on top is by encouraging competition amongst everyone on the ship. In Chapter 12, a day is documented in the novel where many of the crew members get into arguments and physical fights, and Wolf simply stands by and watches. It is described in this way, “Leach’s rage was no longer impotent…The words had barely left his (Cooky’s) mouth when he was knocked down by Leach…In the afternoon, Smoke and Henderson fell foul of each other, and a fusillade of shots came up from the steerage, followed by a stampede of the other four hunters from the deck…The second dogwatch and the day were wound up by a fight between Johansen and Latimer.” (London 93-94). Wolf keeps control of the ship by pitting every man against each other, and allowing them to fight (almost) until the death. He would rather have them fight each other than fight himself, even though he is not afraid using his strength to further show his dominance, as he often does to Hump. One example of this occurs when he and Hump are having an intellectual debate, where he is losing. In order to show Hump that he is still the man in power, he begins to crush him physically and mentally.