The Superior Man

A detailed Summary of The Superior Man


The characters in Jack London's The Sea Wolf are a wide diversity of personalities. The captain of the Ghost, Wolf Larsen, is a cruel and merciless character who has no sympathy for mankind. He then captures a gentleman named Humphrey Van Weyden who challenges him mentally. Van Weyden, who represents good, triumphs over Larsen, representing evil. This paper will discuss the physical, mental, social, and moral attributes of the main characters and will also portray the themes of the novel.

As the story starts Humphrey Van Weyden is on a ferryboat traveling through the San Francisco Bay to. There is a very dense fog in the bay and they suddenly hit a larger boat. While his boat is sinking Humphrey jumps off and is rescued by a nearby ship which is full of cold-hearted pirates. Humphrey is forced to stay with them and become their cabin boy. Van Weyden quickly begins to hate the people around him especially a man named Thomas Mugridge who constantly hounds him and threatens to kill him.

Wolf Larsen is the cruel captain of the Ghost. He is the most brutal, non-caring person anybody could ever meet. He beats his crewmembers viciously anytime they do anything wrong or talk back


Japan. On the way the crewmembers begin to despise their captain more and more. One day a man named Leach tries to kill the captain but ends up killing the first mate. Wolf then asks Humphrey to become the first mate and he agrees. Wolf reads many books and is a very smart and intellectual man. He and Humphrey always talk about life and other things even though Humphrey despises him and is afraid of him.

One day a storm hits and many of the crewmembers are lost. Wolf then discovers a stray ship with four men and one woman onboard. They are made part of the crew to make up for the lost crewmembers. The woman's name is Maud Brewster, a writer whom Humphrey has read about. Humphrey falls deeply in love with Maud. One day he finds Wolf Larsen forcing himself upon her and he stabs him in the shoulder. That night he takes a hunter's boat and flees with Maud and they find an island. They build a hut there and plan to spend their winter there until one day Humphrey looks out to the shore and sees the Ghost. He finds one person on it, Wolf Larsen, who is now blind and useless. So Maud and Humphrey fix up the boat and head for Japan. On their way Wolf Larsen has several strokes and dies. A few days later a ship comes upon them and they are saved. Maud and Humphrey are so joyous that they have their first passionate kiss.



Some common words found in the essay are:
Van Weyden, Wolf Larsen, Sea Wolf, Larsen Larsen, Weyden London, Maud Humphrey, Humphrey Maud, Nietzche English, Wolf Humphrey, Maud Brewster, van weyden, wolf larsen, sea wolf, humphrey van weyden, humphrey van, nuernberg 102, ethical basis, herbert spencer, maud humphrey, hero book, nuernberg 103, loved read writer, evil van weyden, browning talks philosophy, talks philosophy grotesquely,

Approximate Word count = 2553
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

join now Save Paper

Related Essays

  • A Man Above Kings ... vi.159163 Henryamp39s charming charisma coincides with his ruthlessness as a soldier to make him a competent, intelligent, passionate, and superior man to lead ... 1120 words
  • The Chinese Civilization ... Some of his sayings were ampquotThe mind of the superior man is occupied with righteousness the mind of the inferior man is occupied with gainampquot, which means that ... 2357 words
  • Confucius ... Another important aspect of Confucianism was an ideal known as chuntzu, which is contemporarily defined as superior man or true gentleman. ... 2533 words
  • Mr Garner in Beloved ... Mr. Garner has to make sure that he is the superior man in every interaction because he has to fulfill his insecurities about power and his manliness. ... 1445 words
  • Tartuffe ... Madame Pernell describes Tartuffe as a superior man. She says, ampquotHe practices precisely what he preaches. Heamp39s a fine man, and should be listened to. ... 662 words

Professional Essays

  • The Last Yankee by Arthur Miller ... ancestry. This in fact gives Frick all the more reason to view himself as a selfmade man and so as a superior man. Frickamp39s relationship ... 1320 words
  • The Mismeasure of Man ... to any evolutionist, since the evolutionist believes that intelligence is the only thing that separates man from animals and makes him superior to them. ... 2333 words
  • Existential System of Thought ... He argues that the superior man admits that God is dead and takes responsibility for his own actions, a key existential view. When ... 1703 words
  • Existentialism:Sartre ampamp Nietzsche ... He argues that the superior man admits that God is dead and takes responsibility for his own actions, a key existential view. When ... 1703 words
  • Existentialism ... For Nietzsche, the superior man admits that God is dead and takes responsibility for his own actions, and this is a key existential view found in Sartre and ... 2267 words
  • The Mismeasure of Man ... to any evolutionist, since the evolutionist believes that intelligence is the only thing that separates man from animals and makes him superior to them. ... 2322 words


Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.
Home Join Now Support
Acceptable Use Policy About us FAQ
All papers are for research and reference purposes only!
© 2002-2009 DirectEssays.com. All Rights Reserved.