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Lord Jim

First edition cover
Author Joseph Conrad
Country Britain
Language English
Genre(s) Psychological novel
Publisher Blackwood
Publication date 1900
Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages 451 p. Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924 was a Polish-born English novelist The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States A psychological novel, also called psychological realism, is a work of Prose Fiction which places more than the usual amount of emphasis on interior Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Blackwood's Magazine was a British Magazine and Miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980 The year 1900 in literature involved some significant new books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. (first edition hardcover)
ISBN N/A
OCLC 4326282

Lord Jim is a novel by Joseph Conrad, originally published in Blackwood's Magazine from October 1899 to November 1900. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924 was a Polish-born English novelist Blackwood's Magazine was a British Magazine and Miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980 The year 1900 in literature involved some significant new books

Contents

Inspiration

The central occurrence of Lord Jim appears to be based on true events. Although Conrad never confirmed this, there seems to be too much similarity for mere coincidence. On 17 July 1880, S.S. Jeddah sailed from Singapore bound for Penang and Jeddah, with 778 men, 147 women and 67 children on board. Singapore Penang (pəˈnæŋ Malay: Pulau Pinang) is a state in Malaysia, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia Jeddah (also spelled Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda; جدّة Ǧiddah) is a Saudi Arabian city located on the coast of the The passengers were Moslems from the Malay states, traveling to Mecca for the hajj (holy pilgrimage). For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula that were colonized by the British from the 18th and the 19th until the 20th century Mecca ˈmɛkə also spelled Makkah ˈmækə (in full Makkah Al-Mukarramah (Arabic mækːæ(t ælmʊkarˑamæ مكّة المكرمة, literally Honored The Hajj (حج is a pilgrimage to Mecca (Makkah It is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world

Jeddah sailed under the British flag and was crewed largely by British officers. It was owned by the Singapore Steamship Company, whose managing director, Seyyid Muhammad al-Sagoff, came from a wealthy Arab family well established in Singapore. Seyyid Omar al-Sagoff, Muhammad’s son, was on board at the time of the incident. After terrible weather conditions in the first week of passage, the ship's boilers ‘started adrift from their seatings’ and Jeddah began taking in water. The hull sprang a large leak, the water rose rapidly, and the captain and officers abandoned the heavily listing ship, taking Seyyid Omar with them. They were picked up by another vessel and taken to Aden where they told a story of violent passengers and a foundering ship. Aden (ˈeɪdən Arabic: عدن) is a city in Yemen, 170 kilometers east of Bab-el-Mandeb. The pilgrims were left to their fate, an apparently certain death.

However, to much astonishment, on 8 August a French steamship towed Jeddah into Aden - the pilgrims had survived. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. They had been abandoned by those meant to protect them and an official inquiry followed into this great scandal. It is strongly suspected that this dishonourable tale inspired Conrad, who had landed in Singapore in 1883, and he wove the main themes of Lord Jim around it, using the name S.S. Patna for his fictional pilgrim ship.

The novel

The novel is in two main parts, firstly Jim's lapse aboard the Patna and his consequent fall, and secondly an adventure story about Jim's rise and the tale's denouement amongst the people of Patusan - supposedly in the Indonesian archipelago. The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. The main themes surround young Jim's potential (". . . he was one of us", says Marlow) thus sharpening the drama and tragedy of his fall, his subsequent struggle to redeem himself, and Conrad's further hints that personal character flaws will almost certainly emerge given an appropriate catalyst.

In addition to the lyricism and beauty of Conrad's descriptive writing, the novel is remarkable for its sophisticated structure. The bulk of the novel is told in the form of a story recited by the character Marlow to a group of listeners, and the conclusion is presented in the form of a letter from Marlow. Within Marlow's narration, other characters also tell their own stories in nested dialogue. Thus, events in the novel are described from several view points, and often out of chronological order.

The reader is left to form an impression of Jim's interior psychological state from these multiple external points of view. But mere facts are inadequate to explain the human condition. As Marlow remarks of the trial: "They wanted facts. Facts! They demanded facts from him, as if facts could explain anything!" Ultimately, Jim remains mysterious, as seen through a mist: "that mist in which he loomed interesting if not very big, with floating outlines - a straggler yearning inconsolably for his humble place in the ranks. . . It is when we try to grapple with another man's intimate need that we perceive how incomprehensible, wavering, and misty are the beings that share with us the sight of the stars and the warmth of the sun. " It is only through Marlow's recitation that Jim lives for us - the relationship between the two men incites Marlow to "tell you the story, to try to hand over to you, as it were, its very existence, its reality - the truth disclosed in a moment of illusion. "

Marlow is also the narrator of three of Conrad's other works: Heart of Darkness, Youth and Chance. Heart of Darkness is a Novella written by Polish-born writer Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski) "Youth" is an autobiographical short story by Joseph Conrad. Chance is a novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1913 following serial publication the previous year

Plot summary

Jim (his surname is never disclosed), a young British seaman, becomes first mate on the Patna, a ship full of pilgrims travelling to Mecca for the hajj. Mecca ˈmɛkə also spelled Makkah ˈmækə (in full Makkah Al-Mukarramah (Arabic mækːæ(t ælmʊkarˑamæ مكّة المكرمة, literally Honored The Hajj (حج is a pilgrimage to Mecca (Makkah It is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world In a momentary lapse (whether of courage, or judgment, or character) during an accident, Jim joins his captain and other crew members in abandoning the ship and its passengers. A few days later, they are picked up by a British ship. However, the Patna and its passengers are later also saved, and the reprehensible actions of the crew are exposed. The other miscreants evade justice, leaving Jim to face a court of inquiry alone. The court strips him of his navigation command certificate for his dereliction of duty. Jim is angry with himself, both for his moment of weakness, and for missing an opportunity to be a 'hero'.

At the trial, he meets Marlow, a sea captain, who in spite of his initial misgivings over what he sees as Jim's moral unsoundness, comes to befriend him, for he is "one of us. " Marlow later finds Jim work as a ship chandler's clerk. Jim tries to remain incognito, but whenever the opprobrium of the Patna incident catches up with him, he abandons his place and moves further east.

At length, Marlow's friend Stein suggests placing Jim as his factor in Patusan, a remote inland settlement with a mixed Malay and Bugis population, where Jim's past can remain hidden. Malays (Melayu are an Ethnic group of Austronesian peoples predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast The Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest Here, Jim wins the respect of the people and becomes their leader by relieving them from the predations of the bandit Sherif Ali and protecting them from the corrupt local Malay chief, Rajah Tunku Allang. Jim wins the love of Jewel, a woman of mixed race, and is "satisfied. . . almost. " The end comes a few years later, when the town is attacked by the marauder "Gentleman" Brown. Although Brown and his gang are driven off, Dain Waris, the son of the leader of the Bugis community, is slain. Jim continues the conflict and ultimately fulfills his heroic destiny by suffering a fatal bullet in the heart, fired by Dain Waris's father Doramin as savage retribution for the death of his son.

Allusions and references in other works

Jim's ill-fated ship, the Patna is also mentioned in Jorge Luis Borges' short story "The Immortal". " The Immortal " is the title of a short story by noted Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges. (N. B. Patna becomes Patria with a bit of paint peeled from the "n")

Lord Jim is the name of a boat, and subsequently the nickname of the boat's owner, Richard Blake, in Penelope Fitzgerald's Booker Prize-winning novel Offshore. Penelope Fitzgerald ( 17 December, 1916 - 28 April, 2000) was a Booker Prize -winning English Novelist, Poet The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, also known in short as the Booker Prize, is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length Novel Offshore (1979 is a novel by Penelope Fitzgerald. It won the Booker Prize for that year

Film adaptations

The book has twice been adapted for film:

External links

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