Reviewed by Zachary Borey
The Sea Wolf, written by Jack London, features an educated man in the later 1800s who gets shipwrecked and taken aboard by a different vessel, where he is held captive by the ship’s cruel captain.
Humphrey Van Weyden begins his long journey on a ferry in the San Francisco Bay area when it is stricken by another ship in the fog. Humphrey is eventually picked up by a vessel named the Ghost and its captain, Wolf Larson. Wolf is a man described by Humphrey as very handsome and masculine. However, he is very intelligent and cruel, willing kill a man with no remorse. As they travel, Larson takes a liking to Humphrey and he teaches Hump to be a man and fend for himself.
As a young man reading this story, London’s portrayal of Wolf Larson as an excruciatingly fierce character is pretty awesome. You learn to love and hate him as a person. However, towards the end, love interferes with the ferocity and proves to be a sappy ending to an otherwise hard-core story. The Sea Wolf is easily a 9 out of 10 to me.
Zachary Borey is a junior in the Gifted program at Hahnville High. He enjoys playing music and running.
Editor’s note: Book reviews are published weekly in agreement with Hahnville High School gifted English teacher Deborah Unger in conjunction with the Brown Foundation Service Learning Program.
Be the first to comment