The Sea-Wolf

Maud and Humphrey decide to repair the Ghost’s masts so that they can sail away from Endeavor Island in search of rescue. Though Humphrey has no formal training, he remembers things the sailors did aboard the Ghost and is able to cobble together a repair plan. Maud helps in small ways, but she largely provides Humphrey with motivation, enthusiasm, and encouragement, all of which deepen Humphrey’s love for her.

Humphrey boards the Ghost and begins hammering in the hold; the sound draws Larsen’s attention. Though blind, Larsen surmises that Humphrey is trying to repair the ship and forbids him from doing so. Emboldened by Larsen’s physical weakness, Humphrey banters with him, throwing Larsen’s old philosophical ideas back at him: “You advance the fact that it is your ship as though it were a moral right. You have never considered moral rights in your dealing with others” (250). Larsen responds that he intends to die there, on the Ghost marooned on Endeavor Island. Humphrey responds, “Well, we don’t” (251) and resumes the repairs.

Through a system of self-constructed levers known as a windlass, Humphrey and Maud manage to get the topmasts aboard the Ghost and begin working. Through trial and error, Humphrey claims that “I was learning, I was learning” (253).