The Sea-Wolf

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1904

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Chapters 13-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 13 Summary

During Mugridge’s three-day recovery, Humphrey picks up the cook’s work in addition to his own. The crew loves this as the food is much better. On the fourth day after his beating, Larsen drags Mugridge out of bed and forces him to work despite the pain. Furthermore, Larsen threatens Mugridge that if he doesn’t wash more often—in particular, his shirt—that he’ll “get a tow over the side” (96) of the ship. As Mugridge struggles to resume his duties, Humphrey begins to feel pity for him: “What chance had he to be anything else than he was?” (97). Humphrey attempts to console him, but Mugridge is adamant in complaining that he has been in God’s disfavor since the beginning of his life, with no chance of improvement. Humphrey discovers that Mugridge’s new hatred of him is founded upon the fact that Humphrey was born lucky, as a gentleman.

When Johnson returns to his duties, it is with a broken spirit. He grovels before the captain and mate, apparently fully discouraged from attempting to voice his opinions. Leach, however, has no problem showing his animosity for Larsen.

Humphrey is friends with the entire crew. The hunters applaud the medical attention he gives them, promising “that they would not forget” (99) Humphrey come the conclusion of their voyage. This amuses Humphrey as the hunters seem to have forgotten his social class and that Humphrey already owns much more money than they do.

Chapter 14 Summary

Humphrey reflects upon women’s role thus far in his life, namely his mother and sister. The voyage has caused him to reevaluate what he considered annoying habits: “It has dawned upon me that I have never placed a proper valuation upon womankind” (100). Humphrey believes women to be necessary for balancing the brutish nature of men, and he wonders why none of the crew are married or have women in their lives.

Inspired to discover more on this subject, Humphrey approaches Johansen in their first and only personal conversation. Johansen reveals that he has not seen his mother in 20 years after leaving Sweden at the age of 18. He plans to earn as much money as he can so that he can return home and relieve his mother from working. He explains that, for his class and society, “We work from the time we are born until we die in my country. That’s why we live so long. I will live to a hundred” (102).

Unable to sleep, Humphrey takes his things up on deck in search of a place to sleep in the open air. He encounters Harrison at the wheel, who is unresponsive and seems to be in shock. Suddenly, Humphrey sees a hand grappling at the side of the ship, trying to come aboard. It is Wolf Larsen, bleeding from a wound on his head. Once on deck, dripping water, Larsen asks after the mate. Harrison can only reply that he saw the two of them go to the front of the ship. Humphrey accompanies Larsen to the front, where the men on watch have fallen asleep. Wolf Larsen leads Humphrey to the forecastle, where the sailors sleep. There, he discovers the cramped and below-par living conditions these men are subjected to.

Larsen begins to check which of the sailors are actually asleep and which are pretending. Two of them, Oofty-Oofty and Louis, are both confirmed to be asleep. Larsen moves to Leach’s and Johnson’s bunk, but before Larsen can do anything, Leach jumps down from the top bunk and attacks him. Without light, Humphrey can only follow the sounds of a bitter struggle as he attempts to shield himself from the violence by hiding in an unused bunk. He realizes that “there must have been more men in the conspiracy to murder the captain and mate” (106) as more sailors rouse themselves to attack Larsen. It becomes clear to Humphrey that Johnson and Leach orchestrated to throw Johansen and Larsen overboard while the watch was asleep. Unlike Larsen, Johansen did not make it back.

Though Larsen faces several opponents, he fights his way to the stairs. The hunter Latimer appears with a lantern at the top, realizes the situation, and helps Larsen to escape onto the deck. Humphrey is left behind with the sailors.

Chapter 15 Summary

Unbeknownst to the sailors, Humphrey remains hidden in an unused bunk and listens to their conversation directly after their failure to kill Larsen. Leach is clearly in charge amongst the sailors, as he freely orders them around and takes the lead of their discussion. The sailors are all hurt either from trying to harm Larsen or accidentally hurting each other in the dark. The only man who did not participate in the plot is Louis, though none of the other sailors seem to mind this.

Just as Humphrey is panicking over what these men might do to him when his presence is discovered, Latimer returns and calls down for Humphrey under the captain’s orders. Exposed, Humphrey sees fear and “the devilishness which comes of fear” (111) in the faces of the sailors. A sailor, Kelly, attempts to stop Humphrey, but Leach orders him to let Humphrey return to the captain. Humphrey promises that he will say nothing of what he’s heard or seen, then meets Larsen in the cabin.

As the Ghost’s makeshift surgeon, Humphrey attends to Larsen’s injuries, noting as he does so that Larsen’s physical form is the pinnacle of masculinity: “God made you well” (112). Larsen attests that his body was made for utility and that he “struggle[s] to kill and not be killed” (113). When Humphrey finishes dressing Larsen’s wounds, Larsen promotes him to mate. Humphrey immediately refuses, but with a simple glance at Larsen’s expression, submits powerlessly.

Chapters 13-15 Analysis

As Humphrey begins to compare his new world aboard the Ghost with the society he left behind on land, his generalizations on women reflect his social class’ larger gendered biases. Humphrey idealizes women as vessels for specific services, particularly those of savior, soother, and homemaker. In his experience with his mother and sister, women have only ever propagated these stereotypes. “The influence or redemption which irresistibly radiates from such a creature” (101) is a comforting idea to Humphrey, but this notion of woman as a savior for men is highly idealized.

His expectations of women draw from romantic literature catering to the upper-middle and high classes, which painted women as devoted to making men as comfortable as possible so that they can pursue their interests. This version does not truly depict all women, as Humphrey believes. He makes no mention of women in lower classes or those not compelled to devote their lives to homemaking.

In comparison, the men of the Ghost are a “company of celibates, grinding harshly against one another and growing daily more calloused from the grinding” (101). Without women to inspire the men towards better morals, as Humphrey believes, they resort to unpoliced actions of violence and debauchery.

This rumination coincides with the attempted murder of Larsen (and successful murder of the mate Johansen). Despite facing several assailants, Larsen escapes with few injuries. The sailors are unable to penetrate Larsen’s hold over all of them and claim their independence, much like Humphrey’s idealized women cannot claim true independence in his social class. When Humphrey submits to his appointment to mate, he is consigned to the same submissive status as the sailors; being a mate gives him no additional power over the crew, only more duties to fulfill for Larsen’s pleasure. He still does not hold power over Larsen, who serves as an extreme masculinity in the narrative.