 London, who was called "Wolf" by his close friends, also used a picture of a wolf on his bookplate, and named his mansion Wolf House.Given that Van Weyden's experiences in the novel bear some resemblance to experiences London had, or heard told about, when he sailed on the "Sophia Sutherland", the autodidact sailor Van Weyden has been compared to the autodidact sailor Jack London.London's intention in writing "The Sea-Wolf" was "an attack on (Nietzsche's) super-man philosophy."