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Chapter 21
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
Maud Brewster accuses Van Weyden of standing by while two men (Leach and Johnson) were murdered (Wolf Larsen left them to drown.) Van Weyden asks what he should have done instead. He tells Maud Brewster that things are different on the Ghost and that she would do best to try to blend in.
Van Weyden finds himself in the unusual position of going along with Wolf Larsen’s actions while also being unable to defend them. His time aboard the Ghost has made him more willing to compromise his morals, for better or for worse.
Themes
Literary Devices
