The Sea-Wolf is Jack Londons journey deep into the heart of darkness and madness that each person carries within themselves. It is the story of a Danish youth named Humphrey Hump van Weyden and his struggles against the sea, as well as his own inner demons.
Humphrey Van Weyden is a gentleman, and academic, who has lived a soft life among civilized, like-minded people. Mr Van Weyden lives, despite the frigid waters, and finds himself picked up by a seal hunting schooner headed to Japan.
The novel explores the big questions through the philosophical conversations between the Captain Wolf Larsen (a Nietzschean superman, materialist, and man of terrific strength) and Humphrey van Weyden (an effete, bookish, man of morals).