The Sea-Wolf

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1904

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Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 10 Summary

As Humphrey spends more time with Wolf Larsen, he begins to understand how lonely the captain is. The captain’s “chief vent to this primal melancholy has been religion in its more agonizing forms” (75), as Larsen attempts to understand the concept of immortality in relation to his materialism and sense of purpose. Humphrey walks in on Larsen during one of Larsen’s headaches, which begin to seriously impair the captain’s functioning for several days at a time. After suffering alone for three days, Larsen is suddenly better, and he shows Humphrey a schematic he has been working on for a navigation device. He mentions that his motives behind the invention were not for notoriety, but rather “to make money from it, to revel in piggishness” (76) and for the happiness he feels during the creative process itself.

Humphrey continues studying Larsen’s character: “I cannot say how greatly the man had come to interest me” (77). The kindliness and masculine beauty of Larsen’s visage does not match what Humphrey has learned of his inner morality. Humphrey cannot fathom how such a man, with intellect and strength, came to be the captain of a ship so far from civilization. Humphrey asks the captain why he didn’t do more with his life, to which the captain replies by telling Humphrey his life’s story:

Wolf Larsen was born in Romsdal Fjord, Norway, to a peasant family. He doesn’t know the history of his family, only that they were Danish. He grew up poor and began working as a cabin boy at a young age. He learned to read and write while in the English merchant service, then proceeded to teach himself a wide variety of subjects. He believes that since he was born into certain circumstances, he is bound to live in the same narrow circumstances; he believes he has never had the opportunity to rise to a more privileged life. At this point in the conversation, Larson confesses to Humphrey that Humphrey now knows more about him than anyone else—except his own brother. He tells Humphrey that his brother is known as Death Larsen, captain of the steamer Macedonia. The difference between the brothers rests in Death Larsen’s acceptance of his position in life. Wolf Larsen’s quest for knowledge has only brought loneliness to a life disconnected from other intellectually driven people. Of his brother, Wolf Larsen says, “And he is all the happier for leaving life alone. He is too busy living it to think about it. My mistake was in ever opening the books” (80).

Chapter 11 Summary

Having reached their southernmost stop and refilled the Ghost’s water supply, the ship heads north towards Japan. After injuring Leach with his knife, Mugridge is frightened to leave the galley for what Leach may do to him. There is gossip around Johnson, that he “has been guilty of speaking his mind too freely” (81) and that he often comes to heads with Wolf Larsen over the mispronunciation of Johnson’s last name.

Louis tells Humphrey that they can expect to see Death Larsen near Japan. Not only do the brothers hate each other, but Death Larsen has a reputation for a variety of unsavory acts, including “open piracy” (81). Humphrey marvels at how much his body has changed since being on the Ghost. He considers himself in “splendid condition” (82) physically, other than his hands and boils.

Having found a Bible in the dead mate’s things, Larsen reads to Humphrey from Ecclesiastes. They discuss how the will to live undermines the nature of immortality taught by religion. Larsen claims that “Life, when it knows that it must cease living, will always rebel” (85), just before he tests this theory by grabbing Humphrey around the throat and choking him. As Humphrey ineffectually fights to free himself, Larsen makes his point: If Humphrey sincerely believed in religion, he wouldn’t be struggling. Larsen says, “You doubt your immortality, eh? [...] You won’t chance it” (85). Humphrey loses consciousness.

When he wakes, Larsen immediately demands to know whether he has convinced Humphrey of his argument against religion. He demands that Humphrey stand and resume their discussion. Humphrey tries to refuse, but, “toy that [he] was of this monster” (86), he does what Larsen orders.

Chapter 12 Summary

The chapter opens with Humphrey stating that the tensions on the ship have finally climaxed, and “brutality” (86) has swept through the crew. Humphrey surmises that Johnson’s complaints of the captain (including his complaints on the poor-quality goods bought from the slop chest) was told to Larsen by Mugridge in an attempt to curry favor. While Humphrey is in the cabin with Larsen, the mate Johansen brings in Johnson. During a tense confrontation, Johnson tells Larsen: “You do not like me because I am too much of a man” (88).

Larsen and the mate Johansen beat Johnson for his insubordination. During, Larsen again calls Humphrey’s attention to his theory of immortality, saying that Johnson will be alright as “it’s only the fleeting form we may demolish” (90). When Larsen deems the beating adequate, he and Johansen bring Johnson on deck. Leach is beside himself with rage. Not only does he come forward to help bandage Johnson’s wounds, but he shouts expletives and threats at the captain. The rest of the crew is “frightened, not at the boy’s terrible words, but at his terrible audacity” (92) in challenging the captain so openly. Larsen doesn’t respond to Leach’s words and displays only curiosity.

When Mugridge comes on deck during Leach’s tirade and teases him, Leach lashes out, giving Mugridge the beating he promised. Once Leach has “filled the measure of his vengeance” (94), he retreats, leaving a badly beaten Mugridge behind. Feeding off this energy, the hunters Smoke and Henderson finally confront each other later that same day, both shooting and wounding the other. Larsen has Humphrey bandage them after giving them a beating as well.

The sailors erupt in a general brawl, and a fight occurs between Johansen and the hunter Latimer. After such a violent day full of belligerent energy, Humphrey is beset by nightmares. He remarks that “all my days had been passed in comparative ignorance of the animality of man” (95) as he struggles to understand the men’s violent motives. He begins to worry that he, too, may become like them.

Chapters 10-12 Analysis

Larsen’s character continues to develop, with Humphrey analyzing as much of the captain as he can. As Humphrey acknowledges and thinks about Larsen’s extreme loneliness, he says that Larsen “is too often sad. And it is a sadness as deep-reaching as the roots of the race” (75). Humphrey develops this argument through consideration of the Scandinavian myths he has studied; as Larsen is also Scandinavian, Humphrey generalizes the racial and cultural history of the man.

Humphrey’s analysis of Larsen is, therefore, based on book-learning instead of experiential knowledge. Even though he looks down on Larsen’s self-education, Humphrey reveals that he is no better equipped to understand the nuances of a person’s identity; he makes assumptions about Larsen based on mythical characters in books. His bias and generalizations inhibit his ability to see Larsen as a complex and changing individual with his own backstory and motivations. In fact, the only part of Larsen’s backstory that Humphrey narrates is directly related to this issue of book knowledge and practical materialism, when Larsen shares his backstory. Larsen claims that his search for knowledge is the worst thing he could have done in the circumstances he was born into. By pursuing larger philosophical questions, Larsen realizes his lower place in the world and can never feel a sense of fulfillment. Larsen compares himself to his brother, Death, whom he considers to be far happier in life for not being as intellectual as Larsen himself.

Tension and power struggles threaten to destabilize the Ghost, with Larsen maintaining control through strength, force of will, and his commanding nature. Humphrey remarks that “men fight and struggle ferociously for one another’s lives” (81) in the cooped-up quarters, lashing out at each other and unable to control their aggression without an overarching moral code to respect. Rivalries and enemies emerge, from Smoke and Henderson among the hunters to Leach and Mugridge. Chapter 12 opens as a narrative on a day gone out of hand, unravelling into violence. As the chapter closes, Humphrey worries that “the continual brutality around me was degenerative in its effect” (95) after struggling to understand how he could be both disgusted by Mugridge’s beating and pleased at his enemy’s punishment. Humphrey increasingly worries over the sanctity of his moral code and how to preserve it while aboard the Ghost.

In relation to this aggressive behavior, Humphrey begins to consider the concept of masculinity, or “manhood,” as he calls it. For him, the sailor Johnson exemplifies a familiar masculinity for which Humphrey has always strived. Johnson always demonstrates the “ship’s courtesy” (88) in his speech and actions, which makes Humphrey deem him “a better man than [Larsen]” (89). Humphrey rationalizes Johnson’s mutinous motives by claiming that “the manhood that was in him he could not cease from fighting for that manhood” (90). For Humphrey, Johnson is courteous and therefore in possession of Humphrey’s notion of right masculinity. Johnson is thus excused from Humphrey’s condescension. In fact, in Chapter 14, Humphrey will support Johnson’s efforts to harm (and potentially kill) Larsen because Humphrey himself cannot do it no matter how necessary he considers it. It would be below him and compromise his morals—but Johnson, whom he can turn into a hero, is of a lower class and therefore can nobly complete such a horrible act.