Jack London worshiped strong and virtuous heroes and his stories give great weight to the inevitable triumph of good over evil. His telling of the adventures of Humphrey van Weydon in The sea wolf is in keeping with this theme of moral man. His powerful and gripping saga of van Weydon's capture by a seal-hunting ship and the ensuing tangles with its dreaded captain, Wolf Larsen, makes this a classic American tale of peril and victory. The men who sailed with Wolf were treacherous outcasts. Humphrey van Weydon was captain Wolf's unwilling sailor. And the captain himself was the legendary Sea Wolf--a violent brute of a man.