Humphrey Van Weyden, a refined intellectual, finds himself shipwrecked and rescued by the brutal Captain Wolf Larsen. Aboard Larsen's seal-hunting ship, the Ghost, Humphrey is forced to adapt to a harsh and unforgiving life at sea. As he contends with Larsen's cruelty and the harsh elements, he discovers a strength he never knew he possessed. The story becomes a battle of wills, with Humphrey wrestling with his own sense of morality against Larsen's amoral philosophy. Romance enters the picture when a fellow castaway, Maud Brewster, joins them, and together they plot escape from Larsen's tyranny.