The Sea Wolf Essay Topics

The Overview of The Sea Wolf
Not everyone is cut out to be a sailor. The rocking waves of the cold Pacific and the constant back breaking work is very different from a desk job and a warm house. In Jack London’s The Sea Wolf the main character Humphrey Van Weyden faces a major change in lifestyle. When the ferryboat Martinez goes down because of a collision, Van Weyden is rescued by a band of sailors on the seal hunting vessel Ghost. Going from a wealthy literary critic to a cabin boy, he must survive the voyage to Japan. Throughout the journey Van Weyden will get accustomed to the sailor life. The Sea Wolf is well written due to its specific diction and character development, which convey the significance of individuality. It is an enjoyable

Jack London provides diction that is specific to each character's ethnicity and culture, highlighting their differences and making each character unique. One of the men aboard the ship, Thomas Mugridge, has a very specific accent associated with the working class of London: “[He] was clearly a cockney”... “‘An ‘ow yer feelin’ now, sir?” (London 16). The cockney accent is tied with the working class of London. Thomas Mugridge (the cook) is the only one on the boat with this accent. With this information, this specific accent helps readers connect it to his personality of a ruggish hard working London man. Since that is subject to him it creates a sense of individuality. However, Mugridge isn’t the only one with a noticeable accent on the ship. Aboard the vessel Ghost is Louis, he is a Nova Scotia Irishman with a thick Irish accent. The first thing Louis says to Van Weyden is, “‘Ah my boy’... ‘Tis the worst schooner ye could iv selected” (London 48). Louis’ accent is the main focal point of his character. It is what separates him from the rest. Just like how Thomas Mugridge is known for his cockney accent Louis is known for his Irish accent. The individuality that Jack London creates among the characters is so diverse it hooks readers because of how different each person is, but yet they are all working together.

The imagery shown in The Sea Wolf makes this book seem so much more real for the readers. To go along with the character individuality the author also gives readers specific details on their looks. Wolf Larsen is one of the characters that gets described, Van Weyden says this, “His face and neck were hidden beneath a black beard intershot with gray” (London 19). The depiction of each character makes it easier to identify and understand each character and what they look like. It gives the readers something to visualize and overall creates a good story by giving the readers characteristics to identify characters such as Wolf Larsen. As the story goes on readers will add on to the character they have made up in their mind which makes for a better story because the readers can now picture it in their head. While on the schooner Ghost many characters are mentioned, one of them being the cabin boy George Leach. He is not very old and was the lowest rank on the ship as the cabin boy. Van Weyden depicts him as “[a] heavyset young fellow" that looked around “18 or 19” (London 26). With the explanation of characters for each time a new person is introduced lets the readers create their own endings and predictions. Taking a character such as George Leach who is depicted as a young well built man, readers now picture