Summary:
In can be argued that the character of Wolf Larson in "Seawolf" by Jack London is blameless because of his upbringing. But because he is intelligent and cunning, his cruelty to his men is not forgivable.
I read the book Seawolf, which is a non-fiction story. The author of this classical story is Jack London. Most of this story takes place on a schooner called the Ghost. In the beginning of the story, the main character, Humphrey Van Weyden is on a ship called the Martinez. After the ship crashes he is lost at sea until Wolf Larson, the captain of the Ghost spots him and tells his men to bring him on board. Most of the men on the ship were harsh and rude and they knew how to handle life at sea with Wolf Larson. Van Heyden was a poor little rich boy who always had everything handed to him. He was an Englishman who never worked once in his life. As the story goes on Humphrey Van Weyden learns the brutality of men.
I think that Wolf Larson is a very cruel man because he had a lot of unresolved problems in his childhood or as he as getting older. One time he was very cruel was when he made Harrison (a cabin boy) go up the rope and fix the sails. He didn't want to do it because it was very windy that day and he was very frightened that he would fall and crack his head. All Wolf Larson did was laugh and he said that Harrison had to become a man someday. Another time was when Wolf Larson and Humphrey were talking about how man has no sole and how man was in love with his own self, Wolf Larson crushed Humphrey's biceps because he didn't agree with him. One more time when Wolf Larson shows brutality was when Mugridge, the cook stole all of Humphrey's money and Larson didn't do anything about it. He just played poker with him until Larson one all the money and he didn't even give it back to Humphrey.
People who disagree with me may feel that Wolf Larson isn't cruel at all because that's just the way he grew up. He never had it easy like Van Weyden so he was just letting it out at his old age. He was always misunderstood so he never got what he needed and that's exactly why he turned out the way he did.
However I am correct because Wolf Larson is a very smart man. If could get older and learn to read great works from famous authors than why couldn't he learn manners and be kind to all the other men on his ship? He was a horrible man because he enjoyed hurting and playing with his men for fun. He thought of all of them as toys.
In conclusion I feel that if Wolf Larson was a little bit kinder to his men he would have been a much happier man. He played mind games and tricks on his men just for his own amusement, which is very wrong. At the end of the story he gets exactly what he deserved.
This is the complete article, containing 495 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
