Heart of Darkness vs Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

 Joseph Conrad 

              Joseph Conrad (born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a polish - British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language.Though he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he came to be regarded a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility  English literature.He wrote stories and novels, many with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of what he saw as an impassive, inscrutable universe.

Born : 

Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski

3 December 1857

Berdychiv, Russian Empire

Died : 

3 August 1924 (aged 66)

Bishopsbourne, Kent, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Resting place : 

Canterbury Cemetery, Canterbury

Pen name :

Joseph Conrad

Occupation :

Novelist, short-story writer, essayist

Nationality :

Polish–British

Period :

1895–1923: literary impressionism and Modernism

Genre :

Fiction

Notable works : 

Almayer's Folly (1895)

The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' (1897)

Heart of Darkness (1899)

Lord Jim (1900)

Typhoon (1902)

Nostromo (1904)

The Secret Agent (1907)

Under Western Eyes (1911)

        Conrad is considered a literary impressionist by some and an early modernist by others though his works also contain elements of 19th-century realism. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters, as in Lord Jim, for example, have influenced numerous authors. Many dramatic films have been adapted from and inspired by his works. Numerous writers and critics have commented that his fictional works, written largely in the first two decades of the 20th century, seem to have anticipated later world events.

Writing near the peak of the British Empire, Conrad drew on the national experiences of his native Poland—during nearly all his life, parceled out among three occupying empires and on his own experiences in the French and British merchant navies, to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a European-dominated world—including imperialism and colonialism—and that profoundly explore the human psyche.

Heart of Darkness

Summary of the story

Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. Marlow takes a job as a riverboat captain with the Company, a Belgian concern organized to trade in the Congo. As he travels to Africa and then up the Congo, Marlow encounters widespread inefficiency and brutality in the Company’s stations. The native inhabitants of the region have been forced into the Company’s service, and they suffer terribly from overwork and ill treatment at the hands of the Company’s agents. The cruelty and squalor of imperial enterprise contrasts sharply with the impassive and majestic jungle that surrounds the white man’s settlements, making them appear to be tiny islands amidst a vast darkness.

Marlow arrives at the Central Station, run by the general manager, an unwholesome, conspiratorial character. He finds that his steamship has been sunk and spends several months waiting for parts to repair it. His interest in Kurtz grows during this period. The manager and his favorite, the brickmaker, seem to fear Kurtz as a threat to their position. Kurtz is rumored to be ill, making the delays in repairing the ship all the more costly. Marlow eventually gets the parts he needs to repair his ship, and he and the manager set out with a few agents (whom Marlow calls pilgrims because of their strange habit of carrying long, wooden staves wherever they go) and a crew of cannibals on a long, difficult voyage up the river. The dense jungle and the oppressive silence make everyone aboard a little jumpy, and the occasional glimpse of a native village or the sound of drums works the pilgrims into a frenzy.

Marlow and his crew come across a hut with stacked firewood, together with a note saying that the wood is for them but that they should approach cautiously. Shortly after the steamer has taken on the firewood, it is surrounded by a dense fog. When the fog clears, the ship is attacked by an unseen band of natives, who fire arrows from the safety of the forest. The African helmsman is killed before Marlow frightens the natives away with the ship’s steam whistle. Not long after, Marlow and his companions arrive at Kurtz’s Inner Station, expecting to find him dead, but a half-crazed Russian trader, who meets them as they come ashore, assures them that everything is fine and informs them that he is the one who left the wood. The Russian claims that Kurtz has enlarged his mind and cannot be subjected to the same moral judgments as normal people. Apparently, Kurtz has established himself as a god with the natives and has gone on brutal raids in the surrounding territory in search of ivory. The collection of severed heads adorning the fence posts around the station attests to his “methods.” The pilgrims bring Kurtz out of the station-house on a stretcher, and a large group of native warriors pours out of the forest and surrounds them. Kurtz speaks to them, and the natives disappear into the woods.

The manager brings Kurtz, who is quite ill, aboard the steamer. A beautiful native woman, apparently Kurtz’s mistress, appears on the shore and stares out at the ship. The Russian implies that she is somehow involved with Kurtz and has caused trouble before through her influence over him. The Russian reveals to Marlow, after swearing him to secrecy, that Kurtz had ordered the attack on the steamer to make them believe he was dead in order that they might turn back and leave him to his plans. The Russian then leaves by canoe, fearing the displeasure of the manager. Kurtz disappears in the night, and Marlow goes out in search of him, finding him crawling on all fours toward the native camp. Marlow stops him and convinces him to return to the ship. They set off down the river the next morning, but Kurtz’s health is failing fast.

Marlow listens to Kurtz talk while he pilots the ship, and Kurtz entrusts Marlow with a packet of personal documents, including an eloquent pamphlet on civilizing the savages which ends with a scrawled message that says, “Exterminate all the brutes!” The steamer breaks down, and they have to stop for repairs. Kurtz dies, uttering his last words—“The horror! The horror!”—in the presence of the confused Marlow. Marlow falls ill soon after and barely survives. Eventually he returns to Europe and goes to see Kurtz’s Intended (his fiancée). She is still in mourning, even though it has been over a year since Kurtz’s death, and she praises him as a paragon of virtue and achievement. She asks what his last words were, but Marlow cannot bring himself to shatter her illusions with the truth. Instead, he tells her that Kurtz’s last word was her name.

Theme of the story 

 

The Hypocrisy of Imperialism

Heart of Darkness explores the issues surrounding imperialism in complicated ways. As Marlow travels from the Outer Station to the Central Station and finally up the river to the Inner Station, he encounters scenes of torture, cruelty, and near-slavery. At the very least, the incidental scenery of the book offers a harsh picture of colonial enterprise. The impetus behind Marlow’s adventures, too, has to do with the hypocrisy inherent in the rhetoric used to justify imperialism. The men who work for the Company describe what they do as “trade,” and their treatment of native Africans is part of a benevolent project of “civilization.” Kurtz, on the other hand, is open about the fact that he does not trade but rather takes ivory by force, and he describes his own treatment of the natives with the words “suppression” and “extermination”: he does not hide the fact that he rules through violence and intimidation. His perverse honesty leads to his downfall, as his success threatens to expose the evil practices behind European activity in Africa. However, for Marlow as much as for Kurtz or for the Company, Africans in this book are mostly objects: Marlow refers to his helmsman as a piece of machinery, and Kurtz’s African mistress is at best a piece of statuary. It can be argued that Heart of Darkness participates in an oppression of nonwhites that is much more sinister and much harder to remedy than the open abuses of Kurtz or the Company’s men. Africans become for Marlow a mere backdrop, a human screen against which he can play out his philosophical and existential struggles. Their existence and their exoticism enable his self-contemplation. This kind of dehumanization is harder to identify than colonial violence or open racism. While Heart of Darkness offers a powerful condemnation of the hypocritical operations of imperialism, it also presents a set of issues surrounding race that is ultimately troubling.

Madness as a Result of Imperialism

Madness is closely linked to imperialism in this book. Africa is responsible for mental disintegration as well as physical illness. Madness has two primary functions. First, it serves as an ironic device to engage the reader’s sympathies. Kurtz, Marlow is told from the beginning, is mad. However, as Marlow, and the reader, begin to form a more complete picture of Kurtz, it becomes apparent that his madness is only relative, that in the context of the Company insanity is difficult to define. Thus, both Marlow and the reader begin to sympathize with Kurtz and view the Company with suspicion. Madness also functions to establish the necessity of social fictions. Although social mores and explanatory justifications are shown throughout Heart of Darkness to be utterly false and even leading to evil, they are nevertheless necessary for both group harmony and individual security. Madness, in Heart of Darkness, is the result of being removed from one’s social context and allowed to be the sole arbiter of one’s own actions. Madness is thus linked not only to absolute power and a kind of moral genius but to man’s fundamental fallibility: Kurtz has no authority to whom he answers but himself, and this is more than any one man can bear.

The Absurdity of Evil

This novella is, above all, an exploration of hypocrisy, ambiguity, and moral confusion. It explodes the idea of the proverbial choice between the lesser of two evils. As the idealistic Marlow is forced to align himself with either the hypocritical and malicious colonial bureaucracy or the openly malevolent, rule-defying Kurtz, it becomes increasingly clear that to try to judge either alternative is an act of folly: how can moral standards or social values be relevant in judging evil? Is there such thing as insanity in a world that has already gone insane? The number of ridiculous situations Marlow witnesses act as reflections of the larger issue: at one station, for instance, he sees a man trying to carry water in a bucket with a large hole in it. At the Outer Station, he watches native laborers blast away at a hillside with no particular goal in mind. The absurd involves both insignificant silliness and life-or-death issues, often simultaneously. That the serious and the mundane are treated similarly suggests a profound moral confusion and a tremendous hypocrisy: it is terrifying that Kurtz’s homicidal megalomania and a leaky bucket provoke essentially the same reaction from Marlow.

Futility

       Several images throughout Heart of Darkness suggest the futility of European presence in Africa. The first such image Marlow witnesses off the West African coast, where a French warship fires pointlessly at an invisible enemy. Another image appears later, at the Central Station, when Marlow watches as frantic Europeans pointlessly attempt to extinguish a burning grass hut. In addition to these instances of useless action, Marlow takes note of pointless labor practices at the Company Station. There he observes white Europeans forcing Africans to blast a hole through a cliff for no apparent reason. He also nearly falls into a random hole in the ground that slave laborers dug. Marlow speculates that the hole has no purpose other than to occupy the slaves: “It might have been connected with the philanthropic desire of giving the criminals something to do.” As with the examples of the warship and the grass hut, the grossly inefficient labor practices at the Company Station suggest the pointlessness of the European mission in Africa.

Contradiction and Ambivalence

   

         Contradictions appear everywhere in Heart of Darkness, and particularly with respect to European characters, who serve as living embodiments of imperialism. For example, Marlow insists that Fresleven, the Danish captain he replaced, was completely harmless, but he also describes how the man ended up in a violent dispute over hens and died at the end of an African’s spear. European imperial missions sought to civilize “savage” peoples and hence appeared pure in their intentions, but all too often they inflicted terrible violence instead. The accountant Marlow meets at the Company Station provides another important example of contradiction. Despite the filth and chaos that reigns at the station, the accountant maintains an immaculately clean suit and perfectly coiffed hair. Marlow respects the man for maintaining a semblance of civility even in the wilderness. Such an image of civilization in the jungle—or of light in the darkness—represents another contradiction of the European civilizing mission. Contradictions also abound in Marlow’s outlook on colonialism, as well as in his ambivalent views on life. He opens his story by describing his belief in the “idea” of colonialism, yet he goes on to tell a long story about the horrors of the Belgian mission in the Congo. The evident contradiction between the idea of colonialism and its reality doesn’t seem to bother Marlow. A similar tension affects Marlow’s treatment of Africans. He finds it repulsive that Europeans mistreat African laborers at the stations along the river. However, Marlow fails to see Africans as equals. When he laments the loss of his late helmsman, he describes the man as “a savage” and “an instrument,” yet he insists that the two men had “a kind of partnership.” Marlow remains unaware of the contradiction in his description. A further contradiction permeates the grim outlook that Marlow expresses near the novella’s end, when he describes life as “that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose.” According to Marlow, life is at once full of “merciless logic” and yet has a completely “futile purpose”—that is, it is at once meaningful and meaningless.

Hollowness 

Throughout his journey, Marlow meets an array of people characterized by their hollow emptiness, reflecting the way imperialism robbed Europeans of moral substance. For instance, Marlow refers to the chatty brickmaker he meets at the Central Station as a “papier-mâché Mephistopheles” who has “nothing inside but a little loose dirt, maybe.” Despite having a lot to say, the brickmaker’s words lack any real meaning or value. Like a nut without the kernel inside—an image the narrator describes at the beginning of the novella—the brickmaker’s speech is all form and no content, revealing his obvious idleness. Marlow speaks of Kurtz in similar terms. He describes the African wilderness whispering to Kurtz: “It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core.” Marlow comes to this realization of Kurtz’s emptiness after observing the severed African heads on stakes, placed there for no apparent reason. Like the brickmaker, Kurtz is showy with his talk but ultimately doesn’t have much reason, since all his ideas are morally bankrupt. Marlow develops this notion of Kurtz as a hollow man later in the story. Although he continues to speak forcefully, Kurtz’s physical body wastes away, making the man a “hollow sham,” or imitation, of his former self.

Observation and Eavesdropping

              Marlow gains a great deal of information by watching the world around him and by overhearing others’ conversations, as when he listens from the deck of the wrecked steamer to the manager of the Central Station and his uncle discussing Kurtz and the Russian trader. This phenomenon speaks to the impossibility of direct communication between individuals: information must come as the result of chance observation and astute interpretation. Words themselves fail to capture meaning adequately, and thus they must be taken in the context of their utterance. Another good example of this is Marlow’s conversation with the brickmaker, during which Marlow is able to figure out a good deal more than simply what the man has to say.

Interiors and Exteriors

Comparisons between interiors and exteriors pervade Heart of Darkness. As the narrator states at the beginning of the text, Marlow is more interested in surfaces, in the surrounding aura of a thing rather than in any hidden nugget of meaning deep within the thing itself. This inverts the usual hierarchy of meaning: normally one seeks the deep message or hidden truth. The priority placed on observation demonstrates that penetrating to the interior of an idea or a person is impossible in this world. Thus, Marlow is confronted with a series of exteriors and surfaces—the river’s banks, the forest walls around the station, Kurtz’s broad forehead—that he must interpret. These exteriors are all the material he is given, and they provide him with perhaps a more profound source of knowledge than any falsely constructed interior “kernel.”

Darkness

Darkness is important enough conceptually to be part of the book’s title. However, it is difficult to discern exactly what it might mean, given that absolutely everything in the book is cloaked in darkness. Africa, England, and Brussels are all described as gloomy and somehow dark, even if the sun is shining brightly. Darkness thus seems to operate metaphorically and existentially rather than specifically. Darkness is the inability to see: this may sound simple, but as a description of the human condition it has profound implications. Failing to see another human being means failing to understand that individual and failing to establish any sort of sympathetic communion with him or her.

Symbol of the story 

Fog

Fog is a sort of corollary to darkness. Fog not only obscures but distorts: it gives one just enough information to begin making decisions but no way to judge the accuracy of that information, which often ends up being wrong. Marlow’s steamer is caught in the fog, meaning that he has no idea where he’s going and no idea whether peril or open water lies ahead.

The “Whited Sepulchre”

The “whited sepulchre” is probably Brussels, where the Company’s headquarters are located. A sepulchre implies death and confinement, and indeed Europe is the origin of the colonial enterprises that bring death to white men and to their colonial subjects; it is also governed by a set of reified social principles that both enable cruelty, dehumanization, and evil and prohibit change. The phrase “whited sepulchre” comes from the biblical Book of Matthew. In the passage, Matthew describes “whited sepulchres” as something beautiful on the outside but containing horrors within (the bodies of the dead); thus, the image is appropriate for Brussels, given the hypocritical Belgian rhetoric about imperialism’s civilizing mission. (Belgian colonies, particularly the Congo, were notorious for the violence perpetuated against the natives.)

Women

Both Kurtz’s Intended and his African mistress function as blank slates upon which the values and the wealth of their respective societies can be displayed. Marlow frequently claims that women are the keepers of naïve illusions; although this sounds condemnatory, such a role is in fact crucial, as these naïve illusions are at the root of the social fictions that justify economic enterprise and colonial expansion. In return, the women are the beneficiaries of much of the resulting wealth, and they become objects upon which men can display their own success and status.

The River

The Congo River is the key to Africa for Europeans. It allows them access to the center of the continent without having to physically cross it; in other words, it allows the white man to remain always separate or outside. Africa is thus reduced to a series of two-dimensional scenes that flash by Marlow’s steamer as he travels upriver. The river also seems to want to expel Europeans from Africa altogether: its current makes travel upriver slow and difficult, but the flow of water makes travel downriver, back toward “civilization,” rapid and seemingly inevitable. Marlow’s struggles with the river as he travels upstream toward Kurtz reflect his struggles to understand the situation in which he has found himself. The ease with which he journeys back downstream, on the other hand, mirrors his acquiescence to Kurtz and his “choice of nightmares.”

Character of the story

Marlow

The protagonist of Heart of Darkness. Marlow is philosophical, independent-minded, and generally skeptical of those around him. He is also a master storyteller, eloquent and able to draw his listeners into his tale. Although Marlow shares many of his fellow Europeans’ prejudices, he has seen enough of the world and has encountered enough debased white men to make him skeptical of imperialism.

Kurtz

The chief of the Inner Station and the object of Marlow’s quest. Kurtz is a man of many talents—we learn, among other things, that he is a gifted musician and a fine painter—the chief of which are his charisma and his ability to lead men. Kurtz is a man who understands the power of words, and his writings are marked by an eloquence that obscures their horrifying message. Although he remains an enigma even to Marlow, Kurtz clearly exerts a powerful influence on the people in his life. His downfall seems to be a result of his willingness to ignore the hypocritical rules that govern European colonial conduct: Kurtz has “kicked himself loose of the earth” by fraternizing excessively with the natives and not keeping up appearances; in so doing, he has become wildly successful but has also incurred the wrath of his fellow white men.

General manager

The chief agent of the Company in its African territory, who runs the Central Station. He owes his success to a hardy constitution that allows him to outlive all his competitors. He is average in appearance and unremarkable in abilities, but he possesses a strange capacity to produce uneasiness in those around him, keeping everyone sufficiently unsettled for him to exert his control over them.

Brickmaker

The brickmaker, whom Marlow also meets at the Central Station, is a favorite of the manager and seems to be a kind of corporate spy. He never actually produces any bricks, as he is supposedly waiting for some essential element that is never delivered. He is petty and conniving and assumes that other people are too.

Chief accountant

An efficient worker with an incredible habit of dressing up in spotless whites and keeping himself absolutely tidy despite the squalor and heat of the Outer Station, where he lives and works. He is one of the few colonials who seems to have accomplished anything: he has trained a native woman to care for his wardrobe.

Pilgrims

The bumbling, greedy agents of the Central Station. They carry long wooden staves with them everywhere, reminding Marlow of traditional religious travelers. They all want to be appointed to a station so that they can trade for ivory and earn a commission, but none of them actually takes any effective steps toward achieving this goal. They are obsessed with keeping up a veneer of civilization and proper conduct, and are motivated entirely by self-interest. They hate the natives and treat them like animals, although in their greed and ridiculousness they appear less than human themselves.

Cannibals

Natives hired as the crew of the steamer, a surprisingly reasonable and well-tempered bunch. Marlow respects their restraint and their calm acceptance of adversity. The leader of the group, in particular, seems to be intelligent and capable of ironic reflection upon his situation.

Russian trader

A Russian sailor who has gone into the African interior as the trading representative of a Dutch company. He is boyish in appearance and temperament, and seems to exist wholly on the glamour of youth and the audacity of adventurousness. His brightly patched clothes remind Marlow of a harlequin. He is a devoted disciple of Kurtz’s.

Helmsman

A young man from the coast trained by Marlow’s predecessor to pilot the steamer. He is a serviceable pilot, although Marlow never comes to view him as much more than a mechanical part of the boat. He is killed when the steamer is attacked by natives hiding on the riverbanks.

Kurtz’s African mistress

   

A fiercely beautiful woman loaded with jewelry who appears on the shore when Marlow’s steamer arrives at and leaves the Inner Station. She seems to exert an undue influence over both Kurtz and the natives around the station, and the Russian trader points her out as someone to fear. Like Kurtz, she is an enigma: she never speaks to Marlow, and he never learns anything more about her.

Kurtz’s Intended

Kurtz’s naïve and long-suffering fiancée, whom Marlow goes to visit after Kurtz’s death. Her unshakable certainty about Kurtz’s love for her reinforces Marlow’s belief that women live in a dream world, well insulated from reali

Aunt

Marlow’s doting relative, who secures him a position with the Company. She believes firmly in imperialism as a charitable activity that brings civilization and religion to suffering, simple savages. She, too, is an example for Marlow of the naïveté and illusions of women.

The men aboard the Nellie

Marlow’s friends, who are with him aboard a ship on the Thames at the story’s opening. They are the audience for the central story of Heart of Darkness, which Marlow narrates. All have been sailors at one time or another, but all now have important jobs ashore and have settled into middle-class, middle-aged lives. They represent the kind of man Marlow would have likely become had he not gone to Africa: well-meaning and moral but ignorant as to a large part of the world beyond England. The narrator in particular seems to be shaken by Marlow’s story. He repeatedly comments on its obscurity and Marlow’s own mysterious nature.

Fresleven

Marlow’s predecessor as captain of the steamer. Fresleven, by all accounts a good-tempered, nonviolent man, was killed in a dispute over some hens, apparently after striking a village chief.

Lord Jim

Summary of the story

Life at Sea

As a boy, Jim dreams of a life at sea full of romantic adventures such as he has read about in books. The son of a parson, Jim grows up in the idyllic setting of an English country parsonage and then goes to a training camp for officers of the mercantile marine. Along the way, Jim adopts strict, idealized notions of moral behavior and shapes a noble, heroic self-image. While in training, however, Jim fails the first test of his courage, hesitating in a moment of crisis and missing the opportunity to act. Though he struggles with this failure, Jim eventually concludes he was simply caught off guard and will know what to do in the future.

Following his training, Jim becomes first mate on a fine ship. During this time at sea, his heroic self-image goes untested by any further crisis. Jim is free to cultivate his romantic fantasies and to daydream of performing valorous deeds, like the heroes in his books.

romantic adventures such as he has read about in books. The son of a parson, Jim grows up in the idyllic setting of an English country parsonage and then goes to a training camp for officers of the mercantile marine. Along the way, Jim adopts strict, idealized notions of moral behavior and shapes a noble, heroic self-image. While in training, however, Jim fails the first test of his courage, hesitating in a moment of crisis and missing the opportunity to act. Though he struggles with this failure, Jim eventually concludes he was simply caught off guard and will know what to do in the future.

Following his training, Jim becomes first mate on a fine ship. During this time at sea, his heroic self-image goes untested by any further crisis. Jim is free to cultivate his romantic fantasies and to daydream of performing valorous deeds, like the heroes in his books.

The Patna

A leg injury lands Jim in a hospital in an Eastern seaport far from home. Upon recovery, he signs on as first mate aboard the Patna, a decaying ship carrying 800 Muslims on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The voyage is uneventful until one night the ship collides with something below the waterline. The lower compartments begin to fill with water, and the Patna begins to list ominously. As if dark forces in the universe have conspired to worsen the situation, a squall starts. Captain Gustav judges the Patna is in imminent danger of sinking. With only seven lifeboats for 800 passengers, the chances of everyone surviving are slim. In a panic, he orders his crew of four to lower a single boat without waking or alarming the pilgrims.

Jim refuses to help, determined to do his duty and stay with the ship. The others curse him as they frantically struggle with the craft, and one crew member dies from fear and exertion. Then the boat hits the water, and the men leap in. In some manner Jim cannot explain, he finds he, too, has jumped—betraying his own heroic expectations and the trust of the sleeping passengers.

When the ship Avondale picks up the deserters, Captain Gustav falsely claims that the damaged Patna sank like lead during the storm. Later on shore, however, the deserters learn the Patna was towed safely to the port of Aden. Only Jim remains to face the ensuing court of inquiry held in an Eastern port. His actions are deemed unbecoming of an officer, and he is stripped of his license. He becomes "a seaman in exile from the sea." Worse still, his reputation is ruined, and he is a social outcast. Jim's self-aggrandizing illusions shatter.

Meeting Marlow

In the meantime, Jim has met Marlow, a middle-aged, widely experienced, courageous English sea captain who takes an interest in Jim's fate. He has trained young seamen like Jim. Jim's youth, fundamental innocence, and romantic ideals appeal to Marlow as they remind him of his own youthful days and illusions. After the inquiry, Marlow senses how close Jim is to despair. He uses his influence to get Jim work, but Jim never stays long in one place. Try as he might to escape his past, the facts of the Patna scandal "follow [Jim] casually and inevitably." At the first hint of his history coming to light, Jim quits his job and moves on.

Realizing he is failing to truly help Jim, Marlow turns to his friend Stein, a merchant-adventurer with trading posts scattered throughout the East Indies. Hearing Jim's story, Stein perceives the young man is a romantic who must have a chance to live out his dreams if he is going live at all. Stein suggests sending Jim to manage an outpost on Patusan, an island so remote "it would be for the outside world as though he had never existed." Here, Jim will have a fresh start and "a totally new set of conditions for his imaginative faculty to work upon."

Fresh Start

In Patusan, Jim is unknown and believes his past cannot find him. However, settling into his new post is no easy task. On the island, three forceful individuals struggle for domination: the corrupt Rajah Allang, the predatory Sherif (honorable or noble) Ali, and Doramin, chief of the Bugis tribe and Stein's old "war comrade." With the help of Jim and an audaciously clever plan, Doramin and his warriors drive Sherif Ali from the island and subdue Rajah Allang. Jim becomes a legend and earns the title "Tuan," or "Lord." More importantly for Jim, he gains the people's trust. He works tirelessly to restore order and peace on Patusan. Early on, he meets Jewel, a European-Asian woman who becomes his wife. It seems the chasm between Jim's illusions and reality has narrowed to a crack.

Then a vile buccaneer, who calls himself Gentleman Brown, "sails into Jim's history," intending to raid Patusan. He and his crew meet resistance, and the villagers corner them. Brown pleads with Jim to allow him a fair fight or safe passage from the island. On the promise that Brown will leave peacefully, Jim arranges for him and his men to retreat. To satisfy Doramin, Jim offers up his own life should any villager be harmed.

Brown betrays Jim's trust and launches a farewell attack, killing many villagers, including Doramin's son. True to his word, Jim forfeits his life bravely without flinching. In this final courageous sacrifice, he lives up to his moral identity; illusion and reality become one. He seems to prove himself worthy of the outside world that once judged and found him wanting.

Theme of the story 

Lost Honor

Modernist literature frequently explores the theme of loss. In Lord Jim Joseph Conrad probes Jim's loss of honor, his acute awareness of that loss, and the related consequences. Jim is an idealist and romantically imagines himself capable of great heroism in the face of danger. His personal moral code demands perfection in duty, responsibility, and ethics. However, he fails these ideals when he abandons the ship Patna and her passengers. His self-aggrandizing illusions are shattered, his reputation as a seaman is wrecked, and he becomes a social outcast.

Nevertheless, Jim refuses to give up on his idealized heroism and inflexible moral code. The incident of the Patna haunts him as he runs from his past, moving from seaport to seaport, seeking a second chance by which to recover his lost honor. This wandering quest ultimately brings him to the island of Patusan, where he makes a final, heroic attempt to live life honorably as dictated by his romantic idealism. He leaves "his earthly failings behind him and what sort of reputation he had," and immerses himself in "a totally new set of conditions for his imaginative faculty to work upon." On the island, he becomes Tuan, or Lord, Jim—a heroic figure whose honor is not questioned. Nevertheless, Jim remains burdened with the knowledge of his dishonorable past.

Exile

Exile from society is another theme common in modernist literature. In Lord Jim Conrad examines Jim's self-imposed exile following his loss of honor. In shame, Jim breaks off contact with anyone he knew before the Patna incident, even his father. Furthermore, he becomes "a seaman in exile from the sea," having lost his license to serve as a ship's officer. Seeking somewhere to start over with a clean slate, he wanders from job to job, always on the move east, "[toward] the rising sun." However, try as he might to become a man without a past, the facts of the Patna scandal "follow him casually and inevitably."

Jim firmly believes the European community cannot forgive his human failing because he cannot forgive himself. In exile, he pursues a second chance to atone and prove his essential worthiness. This lonely pursuit leads him to Patusan, a place so remote "it would be for the outside world as though he had never existed." He carries with him his moral standards as well as the old illusions of potential greatness and dreams of heroism. Though he successfully rebuilds his romantic self-image and earns the respect of the native people of Patusan, Jim remains isolated by the knowledge of his past, the reason for his exile.

Within this guilty secret lie the seeds of Jim's tragic end, cultivated by the arrival of Gentleman Brown to the island of Patusan. Jim has sympathy for Brown, who has been similarly exiled from civilized society. However, in contrast to Jim's exile which is voluntary and well-intentioned, Brown's is compulsory, the result of willful criminal behavior. Brown discerns that some dark mystery lies behind Jim's exile and plays upon it to gain his confidence. He then betrays Jim's trust, costing the life of Jim's closest native friend, Dain Waris. Jim's long exile abruptly ends when he offers up his own life as penance.

Illusions versus Reality

As a boy, while reading "a course of light holiday literature," Jim discovers a love of the sea. Later, while in training to be an officer of the mercantile marine, he imagines himself like the heroes in his books, performing courageous deeds, "saving people from sinking ships, cutting away masts in a hurricane," and "quelling mutinies on the high seas." However, this heroic, unflinching self-image is not matched by his behavior. When called upon during his training to act quickly in a crisis, Jim hesitates, and the opportunity to fulfill his fantasies is lost. This missed chance foreshadows his later cowardice in abandoning the pilgrim ship Patna and her 800 passengers.

Jim cannot square his romantic notions of heroism with what he sees as cowardly actions aboard the Patna. A chasm has opened up between his illusions and reality. Driven by shame, Jim ultimately flees to remote Patusan, where he is unknown and believes his past cannot find him.

Here, he rebuilds his romantic self-image, managing to match his behavior with his heroic imaginings. In this new world, he becomes Tuan, or Lord, Jim, and the gap between heroic illusions and reality no longer exists. He at last realizes the success he has always imagined. On Patusan, Jim's idealistic view of heroism is both the catalyst for his greatest moments and the agent of his death. When he allows the scoundrel Brown to exit safely from the island, it leads to the death of his Malay friend and ally, Dain Waris. In his deep desire to live up to his heroic standing as Lord Jim, Jim sees martyrdom as his only path to atonement. He stoically presents himself to Dain Waris's grieving father, Doramin, to be shot dead. At this moment, illusion merges completely with reality, but the tragic outcome is the death of the hero.

Trust and Betrayal

Issues of trust and betrayal underlie several key events in Lord Jim. The novel opens with an epigraph by the German Romantic poet Novalis: "It is certain my Conviction gains infinitely, the moment another soul will believe in it." In other words, trust between storyteller and listener is required for the story to be believed.

Trust is also a necessary element in the relationship between the English sea captain Marlow and Jim. Only when Jim is convinced Marlow believes in him will Jim trust Marlow's friendship and accept his help. This trust is mutual—Marlow views Jim as "one of us"—and that trust is later shared by Marlow's reliable friend Stein, the merchant-adventurer who introduces Jim to the island wilderness of Patusan. Nevertheless, Jim is always painfully aware that Marlow knows and remembers, just as he does, the reason he has retreated to Patusan from the outside world. Jim never trusts the world to forgive his grievous failure to perform honorably during the Patna incident.

The clash between trust and betrayal continues as the story progresses. In abandoning the damaged pilgrim ship Patna, Jim betrays his own heroic expectations and the trust of the sleeping passengers. On the island of Patusan, Jim works tirelessly to win the trust of the Malay villagers. He tells Marlow, "I must feel—every day, every time I open my eyes—that I am trusted." He succeeds only to inadvertently betray that trust—as a result of his own misplaced trust in the "latter-day buccaneer" Gentleman Brown. In going to his death, Jim betrays the love and trust of his European-Malaysian wife, Jewel. However, Jim faces his death courageously. In this way, he is true to the trust he has placed in his heroic self-image and the appropriateness of this final act of atonement.

"One of Us"

On nine occasions, Marlow observes Jim is "one of us." The phrase assumes different meanings as Jim's story unfolds.

Marlow's first impression of Jim is that he is "one of us." Jim has accompanied Captain Gustav and two other shipmates to the harbor master's office to report the Patna incident. Marlow observes the other disheveled and disreputable men seem to fit the sordid tale of the Patna's desertion. However, Jim is "clean-limbed, clean-faced, firm on his feet," and looks to be a promising lad. By all appearances, he is a man defined by traditional European ideals of faith, courage, honor, and morality. He knows the "rules of conduct."

During the official inquiry, Marlow's conviction deepens. He begins to know Jim and judges him "the right sort." He is taken by Jim's youth, fundamental innocence, and romantic ideals that recall his own youthful days and "the illusion of my beginning." Again he says, "he was one of us." Nevertheless, the Patna incident causes Marlow to wonder: If Jim is "one of us," how then could things have gone so wrong?

Jim is anxious for Marlow to see him as the right sort. He has always viewed himself in a superior light. While serving aboard the Patna, he holds himself apart from and superior to the fat, greasy captain and the rest of the crew. At the moment of his jump, however, he joins them physically in the lifeboat and morally in their cowardice. By this "breach of faith with the community of mankind," Jim becomes "one of them." He spends the rest of his life trying to prove he is not.

Marlow's understanding grows of the moral quagmire into which Jim has literally jumped. As a result, his belief that Jim is "one of us" takes on a darker tone. He sees how steadfastly Jim holds on to his traditional, high-minded notions of heroism and moral conduct. Still, he has been proven fallible and has fallen short of these noble ideals. Jim has been reduced to "an individual trying to save from the fire his idea of what his moral identity should be." Marlow's label "one of us" becomes troublesome. Now the phrase binds Jim to him—and others of the "right sort"—as one fallible human being to another. This connection makes Jim's recurring questions "What would you have done?" and "What would you have me do?" far more personal and significant. Jim's failure suggests any individual of the right sort can suffer a hidden character flaw, and given the right catalyst, any weakness might emerge.

Finally, on Patusan, Jim aligns himself with the Malay villagers, embracing them as his people. Jim's rules of conduct appeal to them and engender trust. It is when he is lured into believing he is morally equivalent to Gentleman Brown—that Brown, as a European, is also "one of us"—that Jim is destroyed. Marlow wonders whether Jim, in sacrificing his life for "a shadowy ideal of conduct," at last satisfies himself that he is worthy to be "one of us."

Symbol of the story

Jim's Jump

The ship Patna, sailing along on a perfectly calm sea, suddenly collides with and scrapes over submerged debris. The captain and crew fear the ship is in imminent danger of sinking, and with only seven lifeboats to serve them and the 800 passengers, the situation seems hopeless. Jim is the last of these men to abandon the ship in a leap he later describes as jumping "into a well—into an everlasting deep hole." To Jim this leap is both a physical descent and a fall from grace. He has "tumbled from a height he [can] never scale again," and his life will never be the same.

Jim tries to explain his disgraceful behavior to Marlow. With a squall descending on the damaged ship, his shipmates' panicked cries to "Jump! ... Jump! Oh, jump!" were overwhelming. Jim claims his mindless leap is the fault of these fellow officers "as plainly as if they had reached up with a boat hook and pulled me over." Nevertheless, in the view of the court and in Jim's own secret judgment, his jump is "a breach of faith with the community of mankind." Furthermore, its cowardice flies in the face of Jim's heroic self-image, violates his inflexible code of ethics, and leaves him a social outcast. Jim later confides to Marlow, "I had jumped, hadn't I?" and adds, "That's what I had to live down."

Jim's leap symbolizes his loss of honor and the collapse of his self-aggrandizing, heroic fantasies. At the same time, it alters the course of his life forever. The undeniable fact of the jump and its consequences follow Jim from port to port, driving him eventually to remote Patusan. Though Jim for a while will believe himself free of its shadow, eventually the shame of the incident will overtake him one last time.

Butterflies

Stein is Marlow's friend and a successful merchant-adventurer. He is also well known for his study of insects, specifically butterflies and beetles. In Stein's judgment, the butterfly is a flawless creature; a "masterpiece of Nature" that lives in harmony with its world. He likens the capture of his prize butterfly specimen to the capture of a dream he at last held in his hands. For Stein, butterflies are the embodiment of idealism, a dream made real. Stein enshrines his prize butterfly—"the splendor of motionless wings"—in a glass case.

Stein draws a comparison between man and butterfly, stating "man is amazing, but he is not a masterpiece." Unlike the butterfly, he can never be the fine specimen he envisions when he dreams. Furthermore, he is at odds with the world, going "where he is not wanted, where there is no place for him" and running about "making a great noise about himself ... disturbing the blades of grass." For Stein, the butterfly represents an ideal state man can never achieve.

In an effort to help Jim, Marlow turns to Stein for advice. Stein quickly recognizes Jim's idealistic nature and concludes it is best he pursue his romantic yet impractical dreams. Though he recognizes the inherent futility of this pursuit, he also believes "it is not good for you to find you cannot make your dreams come true." Like Stein's prize specimen, preserved in its perfection by death, Jim ultimately will be transfigured by death into the romantic perfection he pursues. His heroic dream will become real.

Brierly's Gold Chronometer

Captain Montague Brierly is one of two nautical magistrates overseeing the inquiry concerning the Patna's abandonment. His record of service is unblemished; he "had never in his life made a mistake, never had an accident, never a mishap." To Marlow he seems to possess a "complacent soul" that nothing can disturb and presents to the world "a surface as hard as granite." However, within days following the inquiry, Brierly commits suicide.

In a leap not unlike Jim's leap from the Patna, Brierly jumps over the side of his ship. However, the act is not impulsive. He makes careful preparations to ensure the ship remains safely on course and his dog is safe in the chart room. Then he goes aft (to the rear of the ship) and jumps. Before jumping, he carefully hangs his gold chronometer—a highly accurate, pocket watch-sized timepiece—under the rail by its chain.

The chronometer represents an enormous technological leap forward in European navigation—the ability to determine longitude at sea. No longer were ships on long voyages at the mercy of errant ocean currents, unfavorable winds, and navigational errors. With the chronometer, navigators could figure precisely where the ship was in its course. In this way, the chronometer symbolizes progress, order, precision, and European dominance over the capricious natural world. Brierly's gold chronometer was awarded to him for saving lives at sea and rescuing ships in distress—the very actions Jim dreams of doing. The device also represents an ordered world in which events like desertion of a ship do not happen, and men like Jim—"one of us"—do not fail in their duty. Therefore, it becomes a fitting symbol for Brierly's departure.

Brierly is deeply disturbed by Jim's case, particularly when Jim, deserted by his fellow officers, accepts all blame and abuse for abandoning the Patna. In general, he finds "the infernal publicity is too shocking" and "enough to burn a man to ashes with shame." Regarding the case, he tells Marlow "a decent man would not have behaved like this to a cargo full of old rags in bales. ... Such an affair destroys one's confidence."

Following Brierly's death, Marlow surmises Jim's case had touched a secret nerve, that when Brierly exclaimed, "Why are we tormenting that young chap?" he was thinking of himself. He surmises Brierly may have been "holding silent inquiry into his own case," found the verdict to be "unmitigated guilt," and is unable to live with that.

The chronometer represents the civilized virtues that order Brierly's life—virtues denied by Jim's actions aboard the Patna. If Brierly also has had an undisclosed "jump" in his past, Jim's case has raised its specter, and Brierly's illusion of an ordered, civilized life can no longer exist. He cannot reconcile the reality of what he is with the ideal he has tried to embody. Figuratively speaking, he is "at sea" and no lon

ger knows his place in the world.

The Ship Patna

The Patna carries 800 Muslims from an East Indies island port to the Red Sea and a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. Their journey is described as the "path of souls [toward] the holy place, the promise of salvation, the reward of eternal life." The Patna itself is compared to "a crowded planet speeding through the dark spaces of ether." The ship's passage is free of storm; the sea appears serene. However, beneath the water's still surface, danger is lurking. Lulled by appearances, the passengers and crew sleep or, like Jim, drowsily daydream, while occasionally checking the ship's course against navigational charts.

Viewed as a "crowded planet" filled with souls on a journey toward "the reward of eternal life," the Patna becomes more than a ship on a voyage. It becomes symbolic of the world teeming with humanity, and its voyage represents the pilgrimage of all souls through life. The dangers and uncertainties of this physical and spiritual journey are represented by the sunken debris that damages the Patna and, in the blink of an eye, transforms the serenity of the voyage into panic. As in all situations in life, response to the crisis by everyone aboard reflects the strengths and weaknesses of their individual characters.

Using this symbolism, the voyage of the Patna mirrors Jim's spiritual odyssey through life. Like the pilgrims, his journey begins with "the call of an idea" leading him far from home and all he knows. As first mate on the Patna, Jim views himself as separate and superior to the passengers and crew. He may rub shoulders with them, but they cannot touch him. He may share the air they breathe, but he is different. This lofty self-image assures him he is a better man than any among them, which reflects Jim's view of his place in the world at large. He fails to see that in life, as on the ship, he is on the same journey as the rest of humanity and just as subject to its lurking dangers. The crisis aboard the Patna mirrors the crisis in Jim's life. He tries to save himself by jumping just as he tries to escape his shame by running. His behavior, while morally disgraceful, is understandable in its humanness. He is afraid. When Jim jumps to save his life, he joins the men he has scorned, becoming one of them in nature and action. He will spend the rest of his journey through life as a tormented soul, striving to prove this place in the world is not so.

Stein's Silver Ring

Stein is a successful German trader and head of the trading post Stein & Co. He is also Marlow's friend and offers Jim a fresh start as manager of his Patusan outpost. To help Jim work his way into society on the island and gain the trust of Doramin, chief of the Bugis people, Stein gives Jim a ring. It is a long-ago gift from Doramin, a Bugis chief Stein calls a "war-comrade." The ring represents a promise of eternal friendship. In Jim's hands, the ring becomes "a sort of credential," much like a letter of introduction to his new post. It is also a symbol of trust. Stein's trust in Jim assures Doramin that he, too, should trust the man and "do his best for him."

This trust is violated by the death of Doramin's son, Dain Waris, a result of Jim's foolish decision to let the vile buccaneer Brown and his crew exit safely from Patusan. By way of a messenger, Jim sends the well-known ring to the encampment guarding the river. It accompanies his order to let Brown and his men pass. Dain Waris, in charge of the camp, receives the message and slips the ring on his finger. When Brown launches a vicious, surprise attack on the camp, Waris is killed. For Doramin, the ring on the hand of his dead son becomes a symbol of unforgivable treachery.

Character of the story

Jim

 Jim, an English clergyman's son, pursues a career in the British merchant marine and commits an act of cowardice that haunts him for the rest of his life.

Marlow

 Marlow is a middle-aged, experienced English sea captain who takes an interest in Jim's life and fate and relates his story to a gathering of friends.

Brierly

 Captain Brierly is the captain of the Ossa, the most highly rated ship of the Blue Star line and is, by reputation, a virtuous, courageous man with a perfect record of service.

Stein

 Stein is a merchant-adventurer and owner of Stein & Co. trading posts throughout the East Indies, including a post on Patusan, where he sends Jim to act as his agent. 

Brown

 Brown, a depraved buccaneer, comes to plunder Patusan and becomes the catalyst for Jim's ruin and death. 

Sherif Ali

 Sherif Ali is a wandering Arab stranger who preys on the people of Patusan, disrupts the balance of power on the island, and feeds on the resulting strife.

Rajah Allang

 Rajah Allang is the governor of Patusan's river, appointed by his nephew, the Sultan. Described as a dirty, little, used-up old man with evil eyes and a weak mouth, he abuses his power and plots to assassinate Jim.

Blake

Blake is a ship chandler and partner in Egström & Blake. Chandlers are retailers who deal in equipment and supplies for ships and boats. Blake is a small man with sleek black hair and unhappy, beady eyes. He is one of Jim's employers for a time.

Mohammed Bonso

Mohammed Bonso is the younger son of the island queen of Celebes and Stein's partner in many exploits in their youth. The prince is assassinated, and Stein always speaks of him as "my poor Mohammed Bonso." Stein married Bonso's sister.

Charley

Charley is the host of a dinner part attended by Marlow. Other guests are the men entertained by Marlow's story about Jim.

Chester

Chester is a West Australian adventurer with a scheme to hire Jim after he loses his license. Jim would oversee native laborers for Chester's guano (seabird manure) operation, which is nothing more than a pipe dream. Chester's partner is Captain Robinson.

Chief engineer

The chief engineer is one of the crew members who desert the Patna. He is tall, thin as a broomstick, has a drooping gray moustache, and drinks excessively.

Cornelius Cornelius is a despicable Malacca-Portuguese scoundrel working for Stein as his agent on Patusan. He despises and plots revenge against Jim for taking over his job and exposing his dishonesty. He is Jewel's stepfather.

Mr. Denver

Mr. Denver is a rice mill owner and Marlow's old friend. First to hire Jim on Marlow's recommendation, he likes and trusts the young man and is bewildered and hurt when he suddenly leaves.

Doramin

Doramin is the old Malay chief of the Bugis tribe on Patusan and father of Dain Waris. Friend to Stein, he accepts Jim and becomes his trusted ally. Monumental in size, he is proud and dignified in manner.

Dutch agent

The Dutch agent is a government official in a port south of Patusan. He tells Marlow a rumor: Jewel is the keeper of a priceless emerald obtained by the "white vagabond," Jim.

Egström

 Egström is a ship chandler and partner in Egström & Blake. Chandlers are retailers who deal in equipment and supplies for ships and boats. Described as a raw-boned, heavy Scandinavian with immense blonde whiskers, he is one of Jim's employers for a time.

Captain Elliot

 Captain Elliot is the Master Attendant at the harbor office where Captain Gustav makes his false report about Patna incident. He gives Gustav a loud and blunt dressing down for his lies.

Emma

 Emma is Stein's deceased daughter. She and his much-loved Malay wife, to whom he refers as "the princess," died of fever on the island of Celebes just days apart.

French lieutenant

The French lieutenant is one of two officers from the French gunboat that rescues the Patna. He meets Marlow two years after the incident and supplies details of the rescue.

George

George is the third engineer on the Patna and dies from fear and exertion as the crew members attempt to abandon the damaged ship.

Captain Gustav

 Captain Gustav, the German captain of the Patna, is a huge, dull-eyed, malevolent man who cares nothing for the lives of the Patna's passengers. He files a false report about the sinking and then cravenly refuses to attend the official inquiry.

Jewel

Jewel is the daughter of a Dutch-Malay woman and European father and is stepdaughter to Cornelius. Jewel saves Jim from assassination and becomes his wife, but her passionate love cannot stop him when he feels honor bound to give up his life.

Mr. Jones

Mr. Jones is chief officer of the Ossa and serves under Captain Brierly. He tells Marlow the story of Brierly's suicide and its aftermath.

De Jongh

 De Jongh is the last ship chandler to employ Jim before he retreats to Patusan, a little more than three years after the Patna inquiry.

Kassim

Kassim is the "long-legged old scoundrel" and diplomat who represents Rajah Allang at the war council during Brown's invasion of Patusan. He plots with Cornelius to use Brown and his men to overthrow Jim.

Alexander McNeil

Alexander McNeil is the old Scotsman who gave Stein his business start. He is "remembered for a roaring voice and a rough sort of honesty."

Captain O'Brien

 Captain O'Brien of the ship Sarah W. Granger recalls the story of the Patna in Jim's presence, causing him to flee his job at Egström & Blake's chandlery.

Captain Robinson

Captain Robinson is an ancient sea captain with a notorious past and an evocative nickname: "Holy-Terror Robinson." He has money and is Chester's partner in a scheme to harvest and sell guano (seabird manure).

Archie Ruthvel

Archie Ruthvel is the principal shipping master in the harbor office where Captain Gustav delivers his false report of the Patna incident.

Schomberg

 Schomberg is the Alsatian hotelkeeper and owner of a bar in Bangkok where Jim and a drunk Danish seaman get into a brawl over the Patna incident. He is a "retailer of all scandalous gossip" and directs Marlow to where Gentleman Brown is living out his final hours.

Second engineer

The second engineer is among the crew who desert the ship Patna. He breaks his arm in the process. He is a sallow-faced "mean little chap" who shows up at Jim's first job with Mr. Denver, causing Jim to abruptly quit and move on.

Selvin

 Selvin is Marlow's chief mate who suffers from "black imaginings" and fits of jealousy when he is too long without a letter from his wife.

Bob Stanton

 Bob Stanton is an insurance canvasser who, years ago, tried to save a young lady's maid from a sinking ship. Panicked, she would not budge, causing both to go down with the ship.

Sultan of Patusan

 Stein describes the sultan as "an imbecile youth with two thumbs on his left hand." The sultan appoints his uncle, Rajah Allang, to govern Patusan's river.

Sura

 Sura is a sorcerer among the Bugis of Patusan and believes there is something occult in Jim's successful attack on Sherif Ali.

Dain Waris

Dain Waris is the much-loved only son of Doramin. Jim finds him courageous, proud, intelligent, and "bearing a temperament like a clear flame." The two become fast friends. When Waris is killed by Brown and his men, Jim's life becomes forfeit.

Siegmund Yucker

Siegmund Yucker is part-owner of Yucker Brothers of Bangkok. They are charterers and teak merchants for whom Jim works until a bar brawl over the Patna incident sends him on the run again.

Similarities & Difference  between both of the story 

Similarity in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim Many times, after a successful novel, an author will publish another story very similar to the praised one.

Joseph Conrad followed in suit with the previous statement. After the publication of Heart of Darkness in 1899, Lord Jim was released in 1900. However, according to majority of his critics, Conrad’s Lord Jim arguably outdoes Heart of Darkness to be named his best work. Few realize, though, that Lord Jim was actually started before Heart of Darkness and dropped until after the completion of it (Galens, Novels for Students 193).Joseph Conrad uses a consistent style throughout the writing of Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim to display similar central points. The uniform parts of style include setting, narration, and central characters.

Compliments of the style similarities, the role of women, the gathered theme of white heroism among the natives, and the issues of loss and rejection confirm the likeness of the two novels. As Conrad spent over twenty years on the sea, it is no surprise that both of these novels take place among the waters. More specifically, Heart of Darkness begins along the Thames River in London.The travels include a round trip from the Thames to the Congo, ending again in Europe (Telgen 98).

Conrad uses legitimate and real places to portray the African area in the 1890s. But, in Lord Jim, the ship called the Patna and the island of Patusan are both fictional. He creates the ship and island with the same jungle like descriptions to serve as the main setting of Lord Jim. Perhaps Conrad did not feel that he portrayed what he truly wanted to show in Heart of Darkness because he had to stick with some historical truths about Africa. He then creates his own places with his own rules and writes Lord Jim.

If this is true, the use of the same narrator named Marlow in both novels is logical. In both novels, the structure of the narrator is virtually set up the same; they are really a story within another story, bouncing back and forth between the first and third person point of views. For the majority of both novels, Marlow is aboard a ship telling the passengers a story about a powerful man who makes a costly error while abroad foreign places. In Heart of Darkness, the third person narrator comments on the life of Marlow and only plays a small role in the book. This third person is never named, most likely because his role is not major.Lord Jim is set up in a similar manner: Marlow serves as the main storyteller in the first person point of view and is preceded by an unknown third person who gives an account of Jim’s life in the novel’s first few chapters (Galens, Novels for Students 180).

Although the two novels do not match up page for page with the differing point of views, the similar use of the narrator is clear. Conrad’s choice of using Marlow for both novels is wise. He knew that Marlow was a success in Heart of Darkness, so by using his creative skills and Marlow, he created a masterpiece in Lord Jim.

Marlow is an old sea captain throughout multiple pieces of Conrad’s work and always serves as the narrator. Conrad proves that Marlow is still human by showing his anger and dislike at each of the main characters throughout the novels. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow becomes furious when he discovers that Kurtz is believed to be dead before his ship arrives at the island. Marlow also assumes that Jim is not regretful of his incident and has an immediate dislike towards him, but when he gets to know Jim, Marlow changes his mind in Lord Jim.In being human, the sea captain believes that he sees and knows it all, so it is not surprising that he tells the stories of Kurtz in Heart of Darkness and Jim in Lord Jim. The central characters in each of the novels are also very similar. Both Kurtz and Jim serve as explorers upon their ships in their respective novels.

Even though the circumstances were different in the two stories, unfortunate events landed each of them into the crowd of native inhabitants in the land they were to explore.In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz finds himself a spot at the top of the white trading company for the intense amounts of ivory he brings into the company’s possession. However, in getting there, the circumstances have caused him to lose all happiness that he built up at home, including his intended wife and future plans. Jim, on the other hand, has many misfortunate events prior to his surge of power. He failed as a naval officer because he abandoned a full ship, and the incident became known as “Panta Incident” (Galens, Novels for Students 184).

This single famous incident causes Jim to shy away from every other seaman job he attempts.Finally, Lord Jim escapes his incident in Patusan fitting into the native tribe. Conrad seems to display the two men in opposition.

For example, Kurtz’s earlier years held a lot of promise for a prosperous life through his family and marriage setup as well as through his career possibilities. However, in his final days, Kurtz appeared to be dwelling on what his life would have been like had he not left his home to go to the Congo. In contrast, Jim starts out at the bottom of the totem pole; he messed up his chosen career through the “Panta Incident” and needs to find a way back up to the top.

By the novel’s close, Jim redeemed himself by proving he could be a leader by his reigning of the natives in Patusan. The two men worked their way up with the natives until each of them held a very high power among the natives at their designated locations, living their lives just like the natives. The strength that these men show in the stories is illustrated in two different ways. Kurtz is depicted as being mentally strong and highly intelligent.

In Heart of Darkness, the manager states “I would be desolated if anything should happen to Mr. Kurtz before we came up,” proving that his intelligence to the company was extremely valuable (48).Lord Jim opens with the lines He was an inch, perhaps two, under six feet, powerfully built, and he advanced straight at you with a slight stoop of the shoulders, head forward, and fixed from under stare which made you think of a charging bull. His voice was deep, loud, and his manner displayed a kind of dogged self-assertion which had nothing aggressive in it. (1) The above quotation precisely shows that Conrad is aiming to display the physical strength of Jim. The contrasting description of strength between the two central characters is another key used by Conrad to separate Kurtz and Jim from being identical characters in both novels.Whether metal or physical, Conrad allows the two men to use their unique advantages to find their way into the native groups.

In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz develops a relationship with the native’s ruling lady, helping him to move up their totem pole. Jim becomes the eventual leader of the mulatto natives on the Patusan Island by marrying the elder ruler’s sister. Conrad, perhaps not even realizing the style patterns in Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim himself, uses very similar writing technique in both novels.Through the use of similar setting, narration, and central characters, Conrad enables himselfto draw parallels with key symbols, issues, and themes in the two novels. Native women take on large roles in the central characters lives and prove to be symbols.

Both Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim also contain evidence of Conrad’s beliefs on white man’s power over the other races. Several similar trust battles occur among characters as well. Firstly, the native women play key roles in Conrad’s novels. Both men have intimate relationships with native women.

It is obvious that Kurtz is having relations with the native woman who seems to hold some extreme importance to her tribe in the Congo. Achebe points out that Conrad spends an entire page of the novel lavishing over the native woman, proving that she is a mistress of Kurtz (255). Although this woman is never named, she shows how easily men can be swayed by womanly figures. The prime example of this is that Kurtz has a significant other at home, known as the Intended, and although Conrad does not make it clear of Kurtz’s commitment to her, he does openly display that Kurtz seems to be entirely into the native lady.Jim ends up marrying his native lover, Jewel, in Lord Jim. Jewel is easily persuaded by Jim’s statements and actions, showing the woman’s weakness for love, but, at the same time, she shows her power over her husband with her protective manners.

Although Jim does not appear to have any run-ins with any white women in Lord Jim, Kurtz does have a relationship with the Intended in Heart of Darkness. Although she is never given a true name, the Intended is known to be Kurtz’s fiance and they will be married upon his return.Basically, through the Intended, Conrad depicts the cruelty of men towards women. The women fall completely in love with the men and put everything into the relationship, especially long distance relationships. When Kurtz leaves his Intended for the Congo, she trusts the he will return to her in time and then they can be married and lead a happy life. However, Conrad denies this thought with the plotline that illustrates Kurtz with the native woman. At the conclusion of Heart of Darkness, Conrad shows that he looks down upon the female population through Marlow’s confrontation with the Intended.

Kurtz did not return to his homeland from the African Congo due to death from illness, but he seemed to forget about his prior engagements at home. Marlow lies to the Intended when she questions him about Kurtz’s dying words, encouraging the Intended that she was on Kurtz’s mind upon his death. In this incident, Conrad is showing the emotional weakness of females through the Intended’s pitiful grieving. He also feels as if, because of her current distressed state, she cannot handle the truth about Kurtz’s death and true last words.Conrad is on the verge of being sexist because he proves through Marlow’s actions that he does not believe that women can face the harshness of reality due to their underlying emotional weakness they cannot handle.

Conrad chooses to push his case even further than just the man’s power over the woman; he suggests that white men are of a higher order than the natives. He proves this essentially throughout Heart of Darkness, yet he still shows Jim above and beyond the natives in Lord Jim. Now, not only do critics look at Conrad as an antifeminist, but they also can title him as being racist.Conrad is not as verbal with the presence of racism in Lord Jim; however, in certain instances throughout the novel, Conrad puts the white men superior to the colored natives. For example, Jimbecomes the leader of the Patusan tribe and he is the white man among the natives. White men usually did not fit in so easily with the native tribes, but Jim is not wanted among the white men either. Conrad acknowledges the inferiority complex that is naturally built up among the white and the natives.

Immediately, the natives treat Jim with the utmost amount of respect and even call him “Tuan Jim”, meaning Lord Jim (Galens, Novels for Students 185).Conrad also proves this inferiority by making Jim a hero among the natives for plotting a successful attack upon a fellow powerful tribe. More importantly, Conrad still discovers a way to still let the white men shine over Jim and his native tribe.

When Brown and his white crew arrive, the natives believe that they should be killed. Yet, Jim, knowing the advancements in technology and intelligence that these white men have, advises that, without fighting, the white men should pass through the tribe. Contrary to Conrad’s slight display of racism in Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness contains ample evidence of Conrad’s racist feelings.Most bluntly, characters like Marlow and Kurtz use very derogatory names when referring to the native Africans.

Conrad calls the natives names such as “niggers,” “savages,” “criminals,” “creatures,” and “cannibals. ” The white men march into the African colonies with the imperialistic attitude that they can go into any inhabited country and colonize it while they pillage and alter it to their liking (Telgen 97). For a short while at the start of the novel, Marlow notes the natural strength of the African natives. However, this burst is short-lived and the narrator begins to see the natives like all the other white men.The white see the colored men and women as people who starve, steal, and murder; are fearless of any form of punishment; and are a much minor race then themselves. Conrad digs at the African natives even deeper when he quotes their speech. The famous quote from the manager’s boy, “Mistah Kurtz- he dead,” proves this attack on the speech of the natives. Achebe declares that the phrasing “insolent black head in the doorway” and the broken English spoken by the native boy upon the arrival at Kurtz’s death proves this racist tone of Conrad (254).

Conrad also confirms the critics’ statements through Kurtz’s involvement with the “International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs. ” From the group’s name, the reader can decipher that the group is planning to attack the rituals of the native savages. Kurtz, one of the most powerful men in the trading company, is composing a treatise for this group compiled of all his observations of the natives. Kurtz notes that the native Africans seem to worship him as if he is a supernatural being. The African natives worship Kurtz just like Jim is treated as a lord in Lord Jim.

At this stage, the native inhabitants of the nonwhite countries do not have the background education to realize that the white men are evil and will ruin their way of life. Conrad goes along with the current day history and displays two different white men as predominant leaders among two native colored tribes. He also uses many racial slurs and cruel comments to depict the natives. Whether Conrad himself is truly racist or not, he writes both novels, especially Heart of Darkness, with a racist tone. Perhaps Conrad finds himself feeling so harshly towards others because of his own personal problems.He experienced so many cases of loss and rejection that he had a low self-confidence.

These stages of mistrust and loss lead to Conrad’s unique writing style. For instance, Conrad and his family dealt with a lot of suffering that led up to the loss of both of his parents when he was very young (Galens, Novels for Students 180). In Lord Jim, Jim resembles Conrad himself in many instances. First, Jim goes through a very rough time with rejection from his naval job for abandoning the ship. At this stage, Conrad is suffering his family’s exile from their home.

After some time, both men begin traveling the coast, making trips to various to newly discovered countries. Following one of the travels, Jim decides to station himself there permanently, and he gives himself the opportunity for happiness. He marries and climbs his way back up the ladder by gaining an honored position about the native tribe of Patusan.

Conrad settles down to form a family with his wife and realizes that writing is the passion that will take him somewhere in life. Although Conrad himself could not pick up on this resemblance at the time, both men loose their lives rather unexpectedly.Jim is murdered by the white men he allows to pass through the village, and Conrad succumbs to a heart attack. The author Conrad and his central character Jim truly live the same pattern of the rollercoaster of life that is full of ups and downs (Merriman 2). Heart of Darkness compares with Lord Jim in several manners. Conrad uses a very similar style technique throughout both of the novels. The use of similar settings, both on the islands where the white men are just beginning to discover and among the seas, is evident.

Conrad also uses the same set of narration in both novels.The seaman Marlow tells the majority of both stories in the first person outlook while a unanimous third person narrator sets up the plot at the beginning of both books. The central characters of Kurtz in Heart of Darkness and Jim in Lord Jim are quite comparable to each other through their power among the natives, strength, and situational responses. By tying together the styles of Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim, many of the same key symbols and issues appeared. Women, especially the native women, played symbolic parts in each of the novels. The power of the white men over the natives is especially crucial with the critics.Critics bash Conrad to this day for his use of racism, especially in Heart of Darkness, shown within his name choices and feeling of superiority over the natives.

Finally, Conrad shows himself through the central character of Jim, proving how loneliness and suffering has affected his life. As quoted by Conrad, “You shall judge a man by his foes as well as by his friends. ” In other words, do not consider only what the critics have written, but recollect to the passages of his fans also.

Conrad has gifted the literary world with two spectacularly similar novels in Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim and should be praised for his contributions.

Work credits

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4. Cliff notes &  Google other sites

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