The Sea-Wolf | Style

The Sea-Wolf Style

Point of View

The novel is narrated in the first person limited point of view by Humphrey "Hump" Van Weyden. Hump is a reliable and insightful narrator who is cognizant and forthright about his own shortcomings. Additionally, Hump begins the narrative as a mature and very educated - perhaps over-educated - individual, and he concludes the narrative as a fully experienced and capable individual. In this sense, the novel is an atypical Entwicklungsroman, or Apprenticeship Novel. Hump, at thirty-five, is notably aged for such a protagonist, but by his own admission, he has no worldly experience. Thus thrust from the "realm of mind and idea" into the "world of the real," Hump begins his painful but exceptionally successful maturation into a capable individual who finds self-assurance, competence and love. Hump's personal development is later mirrored by a similar developmental track enjoyed by Brewster. Both characters are literary figures who have lived a life...
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