Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Sea-Wolf, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Self-Reliance and Maturation
Materialism vs. Idealism
Survival of the Fittest
Love, Duty, and Choice
Summary
Analysis
Seal hunting on the Ghost continues to be perilous. Meanwhile, Van Weyden thinks of sea romances he’s read before and fantasizes about running away with Maud Brewster. He notes how Maud Brewster and Wolf Larsen are almost exactly the opposites of each other. Van Weyden, who has always admired Maud Brewster’s poetry, now realizes that he loves her.
Many characters in The Sea-Wolf are influenced by the books they’ve read. Here, Van Weyden uses sea romances to better understand his own situation. Books are also an important part of Brewster and Van Weyden’s relationship—they know each other from the literary world, and this connection seems to influence Van Weyden’s love for Brewster.
Themes
Literary Devices
