Jack London

© DepositРhotos.com / Maugli, Antartis, cover, 2015

© Book Club "Family Leisure Club", edition in Russian, 2015

© Book Club "Family Leisure Club", translation and decoration, 2015

I managed to save enough money from my earnings to last three years in high school.

Jack London. Fishing Patrol Tales

Composed of Jack London's "Seafood" books, "The Sea Wolf" and "Tales of the Fisherman's Patrol," this book opens the "Adventures at Sea" series. And it is difficult to find a more suitable author for this, undoubtedly one of the "three pillars" of world marine painting.

It is necessary to say a few words about the relevance of the selection of marine painting in a separate genre. I have a suspicion that this is a purely continental habit. It does not occur to the Greeks to call Homer a marine painter. The Odyssey is a heroic epic. It is difficult to find a work in English literature where the sea is not mentioned in one way or another. Alistair McLean is the author of detective stories, although almost all of them unfold among the waves. The French do not call Jules Verne a marine painter, although a significant part of his books are devoted to sailors. The audience read with equal pleasure not only "The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain", but also "From the Cannon to the Moon."

And only Russian literary criticism, it seems, as at one time put the books of Konstantin Stanyukovich on a shelf with the inscription "marine painting" (by analogy with the artist Aivazovsky), so still refuses to notice other, "land" works of authors who, following the pioneer fell into this genre. And among the recognized masters of Russian marine studies - Alexei Novikov-Pryboy or Viktor Konetsky - one can find wonderful stories about, say, a man and a dog (in Konetsky, they are generally written from the perspective of a dog-boxer). Stanyukovich, on the other hand, began with plays denouncing the sharks of capitalism. But in the history of Russian literature it was his "Sea Stories" that remained.

It was so new, fresh and unlike anyone else in 19th century literature that the public refused to accept the author in other roles. Thus, the existence of the marine painting genre in Russian literature is justified by the exoticism of the life experience of writers-sailors, of course, in comparison with other masters of the word in a very continental country. However, this approach to foreign authors is fundamentally wrong.

To call the same Jack London a marine painter would be to ignore the fact that his writing star rose thanks to his northern, gold-prospecting stories and stories. And in general - what has he not only written in his life. And social dystopias, and mystical novels, and dynamic adventure scenarios for a newborn cinema, and novels designed to illustrate some fashionable philosophical or even economic theories, and "novels-novels" - a large literature, which is cramped by any genre. Yet his first essay, written for a competition for a San Francisco newspaper, was titled "A Typhoon off the Coast of Japan." Returning from a long voyage on the fur seal off the coast of Kamchatka, at the suggestion of his sister, he tried his hand at writing and unexpectedly won the first prize.

The size of the remuneration surprised him so pleasantly that he immediately calculated that it was more profitable to be a writer than a sailor, a stoker, a tramp, a dray driver, a farmer, a newspaper seller, a student, a socialist, a fish inspector, a war correspondent, a homeowner, a Hollywood screenwriter, a yachtsman and even - gold digger. Yes, there were such wonderful times for literature: pirates are still oysters, not Internet ones; the magazines are still thick, literary, not glossy. That, however, did not prevent American publishers from flooding all the English colonies of the Pacific Ocean with pirated editions of British authors and (sic!) Cheap scores of European composers. Technology has changed, people have not.

In contemporary Jack London, Victorian Britain, moralizing songs were fashionable. Even among the sailors. I remember one about the lax and gallant sailors. The first, as usual, slept on the watch, defied the boatswain, drank his salary, fought in the port taverns and ended up, as expected, in hard labor. The boatswain could not get enough of the gallant sailor, who sacredly observed the charter of service on ships of the sea fleet, and even the captain, for some very exceptional merits, married his master's daughter to him. For some reason, superstitions about women on a ship are alien to the British. But the gallant sailor does not rest on his laurels, but enters the navigator classes. "Wields a sextant and will be the captain!" - promised a chorus of sailors performing shanti on deck, nursing the anchor on the spire.

Everyone who reads this book to the end can be convinced that Jack London also knew this moralizing sailor's song. The finale of "Tales of the Fishing Patrol", by the way, makes one think about the relationship between autobiography and sailor folklore in this cycle. Critics do not go to sea and, as a rule, cannot distinguish "an incident from the author's life" from a sailor's story, port legends and other folklore of oyster, shrimp, sturgeon and salmon fishermen in the San Francisco Bay. They do not realize that there is no more reason to trust a fish inspector than to trust a fisherman who has returned from fishing, whose "truthfulness" has long been the talk of the town. However, it is simply breathtaking when, a century later, you peep how an impatient young author “signs out” from the story of this collection to the story, tries plot moves, builds a composition more and more confidently to the detriment of the literalism of the real situation and brings the reader to the climax. And some intonations and motives of the upcoming "Smok and the Kid" and other summit stories of the northern cycle are already being guessed. And you understand that after Jack London recorded these real and fictional stories of the fish protection patrol, they, like the Greeks after Homer, became the epic of the Golden Horn Bay.

But I do not understand why none of the critics have yet let slip that Jack himself, in fact, turned out to be a lax sailor from that song, who was enough for one ocean voyage. Luckily for readers all over the world. If he had become a captain, he would hardly have become a writer. The fact that he turned out to be also an unlucky prospector (and further on from the impressive list of professions given above) also played into the hands of the readers. I am more than sure that if he got rich on the gold-bearing Klondike, he would have no reason to write novels. Because all his life he viewed his writing primarily as a way of earning money with his mind, and not with his muscles, and he always scrupulously counted thousands of words in his manuscripts and multiplied in his mind by cents a fee per word. He was offended when the editors cut a lot.

As for The Sea Wolf, I am not a supporter of critical analyzes of classical works. The reader has the right to savor such texts at his own discretion. I will only say that in our once most reading country, every cadet of the nautical school could be suspected of running away from home to a sailor after reading Jack London. At least I heard this from several gray-haired battle captains and the Ukrainian writer-marine painter Leonid Tendyuk.

The latter admitted that when his research vessel "Vityaz" sailed into San Francisco, he shamelessly took advantage of the official position of the "senior group" (and Soviet sailors were released ashore only by "Russian troikas") and dragged along the streets of Frisco for half a day two disgruntled sailors in search of the famous port tavern, in which, according to legend, the skipper of the "Ghost" Wolf Larsen liked to sit. And this was a hundred times more important to him at that moment than the legitimate intentions of his comrades to look for chewing gum, jeans, women's wigs and lurex kerchiefs - the legitimate prey of Soviet sailors in the colonial trade. They found the zucchini. The bartender showed them to Wolf Larsen's place at the massive table. Unoccupied. It seemed that the Ghost's skipper, immortalized by Jack London, had just left.

INTRODUCTION

This course work is dedicated to the work of one of the most famous American writers of the XX century Jack London (John Cheney) - the novel "The Sea Wolf" ("The Sea Wolf", 1904). Based on the writings of famous literary scholars and literary critics, I will try to sort out certain issues related to the novel. First of all, it is important to note that the work is extremely philosophical, and it is very important to see its ideological essence behind the external features of romance and adventure.

The relevance of this work is due to the popularity of the works of Jack London (the novel "Sea Wolf" in particular) and the enduring themes touched upon in the work.

It is appropriate to say about genre innovation and diversity in the literature of the United States of the early 20th century, since during this period a socio-psychological novel, an epic novel, a philosophical novel developed, the genre of social utopia became widespread, and the genre of a scientific novel was created. Reality is portrayed as an object of psychological and philosophical understanding of human existence.

The "Sea Wolf" novel occupies a special place in the general structure of novels at the beginning of the century precisely because it is full of polemics with a number of such phenomena of American literature, which are associated with the problem of naturalism in general and the problem of the novel as a genre in particular. In this work, London made an attempt to combine the genre of the "sea romance" widespread in American literature and the tasks of the philosophical novel, fancifully framed into the composition of an adventure story. "

The object of my research is the novel "The Sea Wolf" by Jack London.

The purpose of the work is the ideological and artistic components of the image of Wolf Larsen and the work itself.

In this work, I will consider the novel from two sides: from the ideological and from the artistic. Thus, the objectives of this work are: firstly, to understand the prerequisites for writing the novel "Sea Wolf" and creating the image of the main character associated with the author's ideological views and his work in general, and, secondly, relying on the literature on this question, to reveal what is the originality of the transfer of the image of Wolf Larsen, as well as the uniqueness and diversity of the artistic side of the novel itself.

The work includes an introduction, two chapters corresponding to the tasks of the work, a conclusion and a list of references.

FIRST CHAPTER

“The best representatives of critical realism in American literature of the early 20th century were associated with the socialist movement, which in these years began to play an increasingly active role in the political life of the United States.<...>this primarily concerns London.<...>

Jack London - one of the greatest masters of world literature of the 20th century - played an outstanding role in the development of realistic literature both in his short stories and in his novels, depicting the collision of a strong, courageous, active person with the world of cash and possessive instincts, which the writer hated. "

When the novel came out, it made a splash. Readers admired the image of the mighty Wolf Larsen, admired how skillfully and subtly in the image of this character the line was drawn between his cruelty and love of books and philosophy. Attention was also drawn to the philosophical disputes between the heroes-antipodes - Captain Larsen and Humphrey Van Weyden - about life, its meaning, about the soul and about immortality. Precisely because Larsen was always firm and unshakable in his convictions, his arguments and arguments sounded so convincing that “millions of people listened with enthusiasm to Larsen's self-justifications:“ It is better to reign in the underworld than to be a slave in heaven ”and“ Right is in strength ". That is why "millions of people" saw the praise of Nietzscheism in the novel.

The captain's strength is not only enormous, it is monstrous. With its help, he sows chaos and fear around him, but, at the same time, involuntary obedience and order reign on the ship: “Larsen, a destroyer by nature, sows evil around him. He can destroy and only destroy ”. But, at the same time, characterizing Larsen as a "magnificent animal" [(1), P. 96], London awakens in the reader a feeling of sympathy for this character, which, along with curiosity, does not leave us until the very end of the work. Moreover, at the very beginning of the story, one cannot help but feel sympathy for the captain also because of the way he behaved when saving Humphrey (“It was an accidental scattered look, an accidental turn of the head<...>He saw me. Jumping to the steering wheel, he pushed the helmsman away and quickly turned the wheel himself, shouting at the same time some command. " [(1), p. 12]) and at the funeral of his assistant: the ceremony was performed according to the "laws of the sea", the last honors were given to the deceased, the last word was said.

So Larsen is strong. But he is lonely and alone is forced to defend his views and position in life, in which the features of nihilism are easily traced. In this case, Wolf Larsen, undoubtedly, was perceived as a vivid representative of Nietzscheanism, preaching extreme individualism.

In this regard, the following remark is important: “I think Jack did not deny individualism; on the contrary, during the period of writing and publication of "The Sea Wolf", he defended free will and the belief in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race more actively than ever before. " One cannot but agree with this statement: not only Larsen's ardent, unpredictable temperament, his unusual mindset, animal strength, but also external data become the subject of admiration for the author, and, as a result, the reader: “I (Humphrey) was fascinated by the perfection of these lines , this, I would say, ferocious beauty. I saw sailors on the tank. Many of them struck with their mighty muscles, but all had some kind of flaw: one part of the body was too strongly developed, the other too weak<...>

But Wolf Larsen was the embodiment of masculinity and was built almost like a god. When he walked or raised his arms, powerful muscles tensed and played under the satin skin. I forgot to mention that only his face and neck were tanned in bronze. His skin was white like a woman's, which reminded me of his Scandinavian origins. When he raised his hand to feel the wound on his head, his biceps moved as if alive under this white cover.<...>I could not take my eyes off Larsen and stood as if nailed to the spot. " [(1), P. 107]

Wolf Larsen is the central character of the book, and, undoubtedly, it is in his words that the main idea that London wanted to convey to the readership lies.

Nevertheless, in addition to such strictly opposite feelings as admiration and censure, which aroused the image of Captain Larsen, the thoughtful reader wondered why this character was sometimes so contradictory. And if we consider his image as an example of an indestructible and inhumanly cruel individualist, then the question arises, why did he “spare” the sissy Humphrey, even helped him become independent and was very happy about such changes in Humphrey? And for what purpose is this character introduced in the novel, which undoubtedly plays an important role in the book? According to Roman Mikhailovich Samarin, a Soviet literary critic, “the novel arises an important theme of a person capable of a stubborn struggle in the name of lofty ideals, and not in the name of asserting his power and satisfying his instincts. This is an interesting, fruitful thought: London went in search of a hero strong, but humane, strong in the name of humanity. But at this stage - early 900s<...>Van Weyden is outlined in the most general outline, he dims next to the colorful Larsen. " That is why the image of the seasoned captain is much brighter than the image of the "bookworm" Humphrey Van Weyden, and, as a result, Wolf Larsen was enthusiastically perceived by the reader as a person capable of manipulating others, as the only master on his ship - a tiny world, like the person we sometimes want to be ourselves - domineering, indestructible, powerful.

Considering the image of Wolf Larsen and the possible ideological origins of this character, it is important to take into account the fact that “when starting work on“ Sea Wolf, ”he [Jack London] did not yet know Nietzsche.<...>Acquaintance with him could have occurred in the middle or at the end of 1904, some time after the completion of "The Sea Wolf". Before that, he had heard Nietzsche Stron-Hamilton and others quoted, and he used expressions such as "blond beast", "superman", "live in danger" when he worked. "

So, in order to finally understand who the wolf Larsen is, the object of the author's admiration or censure, and where the novel took its origins, it is worth turning to the following fact from the life of the writer: “In the early 1900s, Jack London, along with writing, gave a lot of energy social and political activities as a member of the socialist party.<...>He either leans towards the idea of ​​a violent revolution, then stands up for the reformist path.<...>at the same time, the eclecticism of London took shape in the fact that Spencerianism, the idea of ​​the eternal struggle between the strong and the weak, was transferred from the biological field to the social sphere. " It seems to me that this fact once again proves that the image of Wolf Larsen certainly "succeeded", and London was pleased with which character came out of his pen. He was pleased with him from the artistic side, not from the point of view of the ideology embedded in Larsen: Larsen is the quintessence of everything that the author sought to "debunk". London gathered all the traits he disliked in the image of one character, and, as a result, it turned out to be such a "colorful" hero that Larsen not only did not alienate the reader, but even aroused admiration. Let me remind you that when the book was just published, the reader “listened with delight” to the words “enslaver and tormentor” (as described in the book) “Right is in power”.

Jack London subsequently “insisted that the meaning of The Sea Wolf was deeper, that in it he was more likely trying to debunk individualism than vice versa. In 1915, he wrote to Mary Austin: “A long time ago, at the beginning of my writing career, I challenged Nietzsche and his idea of ​​the superman. This is what "Sea Wolf" is dedicated to. Many people have read it, but no one understood the implications of the attack on the philosophy of superhuman superiority. "

According to Jack London's idea, Humphrey is stronger than Larsen. He is spiritually stronger and carries in himself those unshakable values ​​that people remember, tired of cruelty, brute force, arbitrariness and their insecurity: justice, self-control, morality, morality, love. It's not for nothing that he gets Miss Brewster. “According to the logic of Maud Brewster’s character — a strong, intelligent, emotional, talented and ambitious woman — it seemed more natural to get carried away not by the sophisticated, close to her Humphrey, but to fall in love with the pure masculine principle - Larsen, extraordinary and tragically lonely, to go for him, cherishing the hope of directing him to the path of good. However, London gives this flower to Humphrey to highlight Larsen's unattractiveness. " For the line of love, for the love triangle in the novel, the episode when Wolf Larsen tries to take possession of Maud Brewster is very indicative: “I saw Maud, my Maud, beating in the iron arms of Wolf Larsen. She tried in vain to escape, with her hands and head resting on his chest. I rushed to them. Wolf Larsen looked up and I punched him in the face. But it was a weak blow. Growling like a beast, Larsen pushed me away. With this push, a slight wave of his monstrous hand, I was thrown aside with such force that I crashed into the door of Mugridge's former cabin, and it shattered into chips. Scrambling out from under the rubble with difficulty, I jumped up and, feeling no pain - nothing but the mad rage that seized me, - again threw myself at Larsen.

I was struck by this unexpected and strange change. Maud stood leaning against the bulkhead, holding on to it with an outstretched hand, while Wolf Larsen, staggering, covering his eyes with his left hand, with his right hand uncertainly, like a blind man, fumbled around him. " [(1), P. 187] The reason for this strange seizure that gripped Larsen is not clear not only to the heroes of the book, but also to the reader. One thing is clear: London did not accidentally choose just such a denouement for this episode. I suppose that, from the ideological currents of view, he thus intensified the conflict between the heroes, and, from the point of view of the plot, he wanted to "give the opportunity" to Humphrey to emerge victorious in this battle, so that in the eyes of Maud he would become a brave defender, because otherwise the outcome was would be a foregone conclusion: Humphrey could do nothing. Just remember how several sailors tried to kill the captain in the cockpit, but even in every way they could not inflict serious injuries on him, and Larsen, after all that had happened, told Humphrey with the usual irony: “Get to work, doctor! There seems to be a lot of practice ahead of you on this voyage. I don’t know how Ghost would have done without you. If I were capable of such noble feelings, I would say that his master is deeply grateful to you. " [(1), C, 107]

From all of the above, it follows that "Nietzscheism here (in the novel) serves as a background on which he (Jack London) presents Wolf Larsen: it causes interesting controversy, but is not the main theme." As already noted, the work "Sea Wolf" is a philosophical novel. It shows the clash of two radically opposite ideas and worldviews of completely different people who have absorbed the features and foundations of different strata of society. That is why there are so many controversies and discussions in the book: the communication between Wolf Larsen and Humphrey Van Weyden, as you can see, is presented exclusively in the form of disputes and reasoning. Even the communication between Larsen and Maud Brewster is a constant attempt to prove the correctness of their worldview.

So, "London itself wrote about the anti-Nitschean orientation of this book." He stressed more than once that in order to understand both certain subtleties of the work and for the ideological picture as a whole, it is important to take into account his political and ideological beliefs and views.

The most important thing is to realize that "towards the idea of ​​a superman, they and Nietzsche went on different paths." Each has its own "superman", and the main difference lies in where their worldviews "grow" from: in Nietzsche's irrational vitality, cynical disregard for spiritual values ​​and immoralism were the result of a protest against morality and norms of behavior that society dictates. London, on the contrary, by creating its hero, a native of the working class, deprived him of a happy and carefree childhood. It was these deprivations that caused his isolation and loneliness and, as a result, gave rise to that very bestial cruelty in Larsen: “What else can I tell you? he said gloomily and spitefully. - About the hardships suffered in childhood? About a meager life, when there is nothing to eat but fish? About how I, having barely learned to crawl, went out to sea with the fishermen? About my brothers who went to sea one by one and never returned? About how I, unable to read or write, sailed as a ten-year-old boy on old coasters? About coarse food and even more rude treatment, when kicks and beatings in the morning and for the coming sleep replace words, and fear, hatred and pain are the only things that feed the soul? I don't like to think about it! These memories still drive me into a rage. " [(1), P. 78]

“Already at the end of his life he (London) reminded his publisher:“ I was, as you know, in the intellectual camp opposite to Nietzsche. ” That is why Larsen is dying: London needed that quintessence of individualism and nihilism that were embedded in his image to die with Larsen. This, in my opinion, is the strongest proof that London, if at the time of the book's creation was not yet an opponent of Nietzscheism, then it was definitely against "cash and possessive instincts." It also confirms the author's commitment to socialism.

wolf larsen london ideological

"The Sea Wolf" is a novel by D. London. Published in 1904. This work is the quintessence of his philosophy as a writer, a milestone that marked the disillusionment with Social Darwinism and the Nietzschean cult of the superman.

The main action of the novel takes place on the hunting schooner "Ghost". The deck of a ship is an image-metaphor of humanity that is often encountered by Jack London (cf. also the novel "Mutiny on the Elsinore"), in the American literary tradition going back to the novel by G. Melville "Moby Dick". The deck of the ship is an ideal platform for setting up philosophical "experiments about man." Jack London has the "Ghost" deck - a testing ground for an experimental collision of two antipodes, two ideological heroes. At the center of the novel is Captain Wolf Larsen, the embodiment of the Rousseau-Nietzschean "natural man." Larsen rejects any conventions of civilization and social morality, recognizing only the primitive laws of the survival of the fittest, i.e. cruel and predatory. He is quite consistent with his nickname - possessing wolf strength, grip, cunning and vitality. He is opposed by the bearer of the moral and humanistic values ​​of civilization, the writer Humphrey Van Weyden, on whose behalf the narration is being conducted and who acts as a chronicler and commentator of the events on The Ghost.

London's "Sea Wolf" is an experimental novel. Compositionally, the book is divided into two parts. In the first part, Humphrey Van Weyden almost drowns off the coast of California, but Wolf Larsen saves him from death. The captain turns the rescued into his slave, forcing the "little white-handed" to do the dirtiest work on board. At the same time, the captain, who is well educated and has a remarkable mind, starts philosophical conversations with the writer that revolve around the key themes of social Darwinism and Nietzscheism. Philosophical disputes, reflecting the deep inner conflict between Larsen and Van Weyden, constantly balance on the brink of violence. Ultimately, the captain's seething anger pours out on the sailors. His bestial cruelty provokes a riot on the ship. Having suppressed the rebellion, Wolf Larsen almost dies and rushes in pursuit of the instigators of the rebellion. However, here the narrative changes direction abruptly. In the second part, the novel's plot gets a kind of mirror image: Wolf Larsen again rescues the victim of a shipwreck, the beautiful intellectual Maud Brewster. But its appearance, according to the American critic R. Spiller, "turns a naturalistic book into a romantic story." After another shipwreck - this time a storm breaks the "Ghost" - and the team's flight, the three surviving heroes find themselves on an uninhabited island. Here the ideological novel about the social Darwinian "struggle for survival" is transformed into a sentimental "love story" with an almost incredibly contrived collision and plot resolution: the Nietzschean Wolf Larsen goes blind and dies of brain cancer, and the "civilized" Humphrey Van Weyden and Maud Brewster spend some idyllic days until they are picked up by a passing ship.

For all his rudeness, primitive cruelty, Wolf Larsen evokes sympathy. The colorful, richly written image of the captain contrasts sharply with the less convincing idealized images of the resonators Humphrey Van Weyden and Maud Brewster and is considered one of the most successful in the gallery of "strong" heroes in D. London.

One of the most popular works of the writer, this novel was repeatedly filmed in the USA (1913, 1920, 1925, 1930). The best is the film of the same name (1941) directed by M. Curtis with E. Robinson in the title role. In 1958 and 1975. remakes of this classic film adaptation were made.

Summary of the novel by Jack London "Wolf of the Sea"
Jack London's The Sea Wolf begins with the famous literary critic Humphrey Van Weyden being shipwrecked: the ship on which he sailed across the bay to San Francisco sinks. The frozen Humphrey is rescued by the Ghost ship, which should be hunted for seals. While trying to negotiate with the captain of the "Ghost" named Wolf Larsen, Humphrey witnesses the death of the captain's mate. The captain appoints a new assistant, carries out changes among the team. One of the sailors, Leach, doesn't like the rearrangement, and Wolf Larsen beats him up in front of everyone. He offered to take Humphrey's place and threatened to take him if he did not agree. Humphrey, being a man of determined labor, did not dare to refuse, and the ship carried him away from San Francisco for a long time.

Humphrey was struck by the atmosphere of primal fear on the ship: Captain Wolf Larsen ruled everything. He was endowed with phenomenal physical strength, which he used very often against his team. His team was very afraid of him, hated him, but obeyed without question, since it cost nothing to kill a man with his bare hands. Humphrey worked in the galley under the unscrupulous Mugridge Cook, servile and fawning at the captain. Kok loaded his work on Humphrey, insulted and humiliated him in every possible way. Cook stole all the money from Humphrey, he went to the captain. Capital laughed at Humphrey and said that this was not his concern, in addition, he himself was to blame for the fact that Humphrey seduced the cook to steal. After some time, Wolf Larsen won Humphrey's money from the cook at cards, but did not give it to the owner, leaving it for himself.

Humphrey's character and body on the ship very quickly tempered, now he was no longer a bookworm, the crew treated him well, and the captain began to talk with him little by little about philosophical issues, literature, etc. Wolf Larsen saw right through Humphrey and seemed to read his mind. Humphrey feared him, but also admired him, the captain was an example of a wild unstoppable primal force that swept away everything in its path. Capital denied any manifestation of humanity and only recognized force. In addition, he considered life the cheapest of all things, he called life a zavkaska, the strong devour the weak. Humphrey quickly learned that strength is right, weakness is always wrong. Little by little, Humphrey learns the philosophy of Wolf Larsen, despite the fact that it was disgusting to him earlier. He puts the cook in his place, and he stops bullying him.

Due to a state of wild fear, a riot was brewing on the ship, and it took place: several sailors attacked Wolf Larsen and his assistant and threw them overboard. The captain's mate drowned, and Larsen was able to climb onto the ship. After that, he went to find out who attacked him. In the cockpit he was attacked again, but even now he was able to get out, thanks to his superhuman strength. Wolf Larsen makes Humphrey his assistant, despite the fact that he does not understand anything about navigation. The captain is getting better at Humphrey, recognizing his quick success in real life. The team begins to be bullied even more, which only intensifies the atmosphere of fear and hatred.

One day, the "Ghost" picks up a boat, in which there was another famous writer Maud Brewster. And this time Wolf Larsen refuses to deliver the passengers of the boat to the shore: he makes men members of the crew, and Maud offers a comfortable existence on the ship. Maud and Humphrey quickly converge. The captain also became interested in Maud and once tried to rape her. Humphrey tried to stop him, but something else stopped him: the captain was tormented by terrible headaches and this time a new attack led to the fact that he lost his sight. It was on this time that Humphrey first saw the captain frightened.

Maud and Humphrey decide to flee the ship, equip a boat and set off to the shores of Japan. Their plans were not destined to come true, strong storms carried them away. After many days of wandering and fighting for their lives, they are nailed to an uninhabited island, where they begin to establish their daily life, build huts, hunt for seals, store meat, etc. Maud and Humphrey grow closer and fall in love. One day a "Ghost" nailed to their island. The ship was pretty battered, there were no masts on it (the cook Mugridge cut them out of revenge for the mistreatment by the captain). There was no command on it either - she went to the ship of Wolf Larsen's brother named Death Larsen. The brothers hated each other and harmed each other, interfering with the hunt for seals, capturing and luring team members. There was only Wolf Larsen on the ship, completely blind, but not broken. Humphrey and Maud came up with the idea of ​​sailing off the island on the Ghost, but Wolf Larsen did his best to prevent this, as he wanted to die on his ship.

Humphrey and Maud begin to repair the ship, coming up with ways to put up masts, equip the ship. Yesterday's intellectuals Humphrey and Maud are desperately working on the ship. Several times Wolf Larsen almost reached them, but each time they escaped from his terrible power. Wolf Larsen began to fail, one part of his body refused, then speech refused, then the other half of the body stopped moving. Maud and Humphrey courted the captain to the very end, who never gave up his understanding of life. The captain dies shortly before the ship is ready to sail. Humphrey and Maud go out to sea and meet a ship on their way, rescue. The novel "Sea Wolf" by Jack London ends with the two confessing their love to each other.

Meaning
Jack London's novel "The Wolf Larsen" shows the clash of two different outlooks on life: the captain's cynical "power" approach is opposed by the more humane approach of Humphrey Van Weyden. In contrast to Humphrey's "humane" approach, Captain Wolf Larsen believes that life is a struggle between the strong and the weak, that the victory of the strong is normal, and the weak has nothing to blame for being weak. According to Wolf Larsen, life is valued only by the one to whom it belongs; in the eyes of others, the life of another person is worthless.

With the development of the narrative, the characters change: Humphrey quickly masters the science of Wolf Larsen and directs his power against the captain, who hindered the realization of his interests. It is important to note that the protagonist of the novel "Sea Wolf" still resists unreasonable cruelty, murder, etc., because he leaves the defenseless Wolf Larsen alive, although he had every chance to kill him.

Wolf Larsen himself is changing: a stronger leaven nevertheless devoured him. His body, which was his support, refused to serve him and buried his unconquered spirit in itself.

Jack London Book Reviews:
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The novel takes place in 1893 in the Pacific Ocean. Humphrey Van Weyden, a San Francisco resident and renowned literary critic, takes a ferry across Golden Gate Bay to visit his friend and is shipwrecked along the way. From the water he is picked up by the captain of the fishing schooner Ghost, whom everyone on board calls Wolf Larsen.

For the first time, asking about the captain from the sailor who brought him to consciousness, Van Weyden learns that he is "mad." When Van Weyden, who has just regained consciousness, goes to the deck to talk to the captain, the captain's mate dies before his eyes. Then Wolf Larsen makes one of the sailors his assistant, and in place of the sailor puts the cabin boy George Leach, he does not agree with such a move and Wolf Larsen beats him. And the 35-year-old intellectual Van Weyden Wolf Larsen makes a cabin boy, giving him the direct supervisor of the cook Mugridge - a tramp from the London slums, a sycophant, an informer and a slob. Mugridge, who had just been pleasing to the "gentleman" who got on board the ship, when he was under his command, begins to bully him.

Larsen, in a small schooner with a crew of 22, travels to the North Pacific to harvest fur seal skins and takes Van Weyden with him, despite his desperate protests.

The next day, Van Weyden discovers that the cook has robbed him. When Van Weyden announces this to the cook, the cook threatens him. Carrying out the duties of a cabin boy, Van Weyden cleans up in the captain's cabin and is surprised to find there books on astronomy and physics, the works of Darwin, the works of Shakespeare, Tennyson and Browning. Reassured by this, Van Weyden complains to the captain about the cook. Wolf Larsen mockingly tells Van Weyden that he himself is to blame, having sinned and tempted the cook with money, and then seriously expounds his own philosophy, according to which life is meaningless and like leaven, and "the strong devour the weak."

From the team, Van Weyden learns that Wolf Larsen is famous in the professional environment for reckless bravery, but even more terrible cruelty, because of which he even has problems with recruiting a team; there are murders on his conscience. Order on the ship rests entirely on the extraordinary physical strength and authority of Wolf Larsen. The captain will immediately severely punish the offender for any offense. Despite his extraordinary physical strength, Wolf Larsen suffers from severe headaches.

Having drunk the cook, Wolf Larsen wins money from him, having found out that besides this stolen money, the hobo-cook has not a penny. Van Weyden reminds that the money belongs to him, but Wolf Larsen takes it for himself: he believes that “weakness is always to blame, strength is always right,” and morality and any ideals are illusions.

Frustrated by the loss of money, the cook rips off evil on Van Weyden and begins to threaten him with a knife. Upon learning of this, Wolf Larsen mockingly declares to Van Weyden, who had previously told Wolf Larsen that he believes in the immortality of the soul, that the cook cannot harm him, since he is immortal, and if he does not want to go to heaven, let him send the cook there by stabbing with his knife.

In desperation, Van Weyden retrieves an old cleaver and demonstratively sharpens it, but the cowardly cook does not take any action and even begins to grovel in front of him again.

An atmosphere of primal fear reigns on the ship, as the captain acts in accordance with his belief that human life is the cheapest of all cheap things. However, the captain favors Van Weyden. Moreover, having started the journey on the ship with a mate cook, "Hump" (a hint of the stoop of people of intellectual labor), as Larsen called him, makes a career up to the position of chief mate, although at first he does not understand anything about sea affairs. The reason is that Van Weyden and Larsen, who came from the bottom and at one time led a life where "kicks and beatings in the morning and for the coming sleep replace words, and fear, hatred and pain are the only things that nourished the soul" language in the field of literature and philosophy, which are not alien to the captain. He even has a small library on board, where Van Weyden discovered Browning and Swinburne. In his free time, the captain enjoys mathematics and optimizes navigation instruments.

Kok, who had previously enjoyed the captain's disposition, is trying to return him by reporting on one of the sailors - Johnson, who dared to express his dissatisfaction with the robe given to him. Johnson had previously been in bad standing with the captain, despite the fact that he worked regularly, as he had a sense of his own dignity. In the cabin, Larsen and a new mate brutally beat Johnson in front of Van Weyden, and then drag the unconscious Johnson onto the deck. Here, unexpectedly, Wolf Larsen is denounced by the former cabin boy Leach in front of everyone. The Leach then beats up Mugridge. But to the surprise of Van Weyden and the others, Wolf Larsen does not touch the Lich.

One night, Van Weyden sees Wolf Larsen making his way through the side of the ship, all wet and with a bloody head. Together with Van Weyden, who poorly understands what is happening, Wolf Larsen descends into the cockpit, here the sailors pounce on Wolf Larsen and try to kill him, but they are not armed, in addition, they are hindered by darkness, multiplicity (since they interfere with each other) and Wolf Larsen, using his extraordinary physical strength, makes his way up the ladder.

After that, Wolf Larsen summons Van Weyden, who remained in the cockpit, and appoints him as his assistant (the previous one, along with Larsen, was hit on the head and thrown overboard, but, unlike Wolf Larsen, he could not swim out and died), although he does not understand anything about navigation.

After the failed riot, the captain's treatment of the crew becomes even more brutal, especially for Leach and Johnson. Everyone, including Johnson and Leach themselves, is confident that Wolf Larsen will kill them. Wolf Larsen himself says the same. The captain's own attacks of headache are intensifying, now lasting for several days.

Johnson and Leach manage to escape in one of the boats. Along the way in pursuit of the fugitives, the crew of the "Ghost" picks up another group of disaster victims, including a woman - the poet Maud Brewster. At first sight, Humphrey is attracted to Maud. The storm begins. Baffled by the fate of Leach and Johnson, Van Weyden announces to Wolf Larsen that he will kill him if he continues to mock Leach and Johnson. Wolf Larsen congratulates Van Weyden that he has finally become an independent person and gives his word that he will not touch Leach and Johnson. At the same time, a mockery is visible in the eyes of Wolf Larsen. Wolf Larsen soon catches up with Leach and Johnson. Wolf Larsen comes close to the boat and never takes them on board, thereby drowning Leach and Johnson. Van Weyden is stunned.

Wolf Larsen had earlier threatened the unkempt cook that if he didn’t change his shirt, he would buy him out. Once making sure that the cook has not changed his shirt, Wolf Larsen orders him to dunk him in the sea on a rope. As a result, the cook loses a foot bitten off by a shark. Maud becomes a witness to the scene.

The captain has a brother named Death Larsen, the captain of a fishing steamer, in addition, as it was said, was involved in the transportation of weapons and opium, the slave trade and piracy. Brothers hate each other. One day Wolf Larsen meets Death Larsen and captures several members of his brother's team.

The wolf is also attracted to Maud, which ends with the fact that he tried to rape her, but gave up his attempt due to a severe headache that began. Van Weyden, who was present at this, even at first rushed at Larsen in a fit of indignation, first saw Wolf Larsen truly frightened.

Immediately after this incident, Van Weyden and Maud decide to flee the Ghost while Wolf Larsen lies in his cabin with a headache. Capturing a lifeboat with a small supply of food, they flee, and after a few weeks of wandering across the ocean, they find dry land and land on a small island that Maud and Humphrey named Endeavor Island. They cannot leave the island and are preparing for a long winter.

After a while, a broken schooner was nailed to the island. This is the Ghost with Wolf Larsen on board. He lost his sight (apparently, this happened during the attack that prevented him from rape Maud). It turns out that two days after the escape of Van Weyden and Maud, the "Ghost" team transferred to the Death ship Larsen, who took the "Ghost" on board and bribed the sea hunters. Kok took revenge on Wolf Larsen by sawing the masts.

The crippled Ghost with broken masts drifted in the ocean until it was nailed to the Isle of Effort. By the will of fate, it is on this island that Captain Larsen, who has been blinded by a brain tumor, discovers a seal rookery, which he has been looking for all his life.

Maud and Humphrey, at the cost of incredible efforts, put the "Ghost" in order and take him out to sea. Larsen, who is consistently denied all senses following sight, is paralyzed and dies. The moment Maud and Humphrey finally find a rescue ship in the ocean, they confess their love to each other.