Book Talk- "The Sea Wolf" by Jack London

1.               Please include a detailed description of the text.

The Sea Wolf tells the story of a soft, domesticated protagonist — in this novel's case an intellectual man named Humphrey van Weyden — forced to become tough and self-reliant by exposure to cruelty and brutality. The story starts with him aboard a San Francisco ferry, called Martinez, which collides with another ship in the fog and sinks. He is set adrift in the Bay, eventually being picked up by Wolf Larsen. Larsen is the captain of a seal-hunting schooner, the Ghost. Brutal and cynical, yet also highly intelligent and intellectual (though highly biased in his opinions, as he was self-taught), he rules over his ship and terrorizes the crew with the aid of his exceptionally great physical strength. Van Weyden adequately describes him as an individualist, hedonist, and materialist. Larsen does not believe in the immortality of the soul, he finds no meaning in his life save for survival and pleasure and has come to despise all human life and deny its value. Being interested in someone capable of intellectual disputes, he somewhat takes care of Van Weyden, whom he calls 'Hump', while forcing him to become a cabin boy, do menial work, and learn to fight to protect himself from a brutal crew.

2.      Please explain why you chose this text. What was your rationale? For whom is this text appropriate? Please consider age, ability, and any other factor you find important. Why is it appropriate for this group of students?

I had chosen this text because it was my first introduction into analyzing literature. Themes that are seen throughout the book are evolution vs. de-evolution, physical and spiritual maturation, and philosophical materialism (material vs. spiritual). This is a great introductory book into deeper thinking as it provides many different avenues of approach and no given “correct” answers which encourages synthesizing from the students. Most of the topics are light but existential which targets a more mature and focused group therefore I would suggest 10^th grade and higher to read this novel. It has a still incredibly engaging with the story’s adventure which keeps the attention of “lower level” readers very well.

3.      Please include some teaching ideas.

You can use this book for introducing topics from people such as Nietzsche (nihilism), Darwin (evolution), and Schoepenhauser (philosophical pessimism). These philosophers and writers embody an overarching Naturalistic point of view which Jack London shares. Another option would be a character analysis to see progression/digression as “Hump” and Wolf Larsen transforms throughout the story. Finally, a useful lesson would be writing arguments to defend/oppose claims within the text and use textual evidence.

4.      Please consider some challenges to using this text. Administration, student, parent responses?

The content of the text is very age appropriate and strays away from most sensitive topics. However, although the language used within the reading is simple, the deeper meanings are not. It is easy to get carried away with the story line which can be used to your benefit to maintain the attention of the students. On the otherhand, you need to keep students focused on the ideas and themes within the story as these are discussion points that can easily go over some student’s heads.