Lord Jim

Lord Jim is a novel by Joseph Conrad published in 1900. The novel falls into two parts, a psychological tale about Jim's moral lapse aboard the pilgrim ship Patna, and an adventure story about Jim's rise and fall amongst the people of Patusan, a native-ruled state somewhere in the interior of one of the islands of the East Indies. Some critics have said that the second part of the story is inferior to the first, but it is necessary to the working out of the psychological drama established in the first part.

Plot Summary

As Marlow says in the novel, facts are inadequate to explaining the inner life of a human being. However, a summary of the facts of the novel can be recited.

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Jim is a young British seaman working as mate on the Patna, a ship full of pilrims performing the hajj. In a momentary lapse (whether of courage, or judgment, or character) during an accident, Jim abandons ship. The court strips him of his nautical certificate for his dereliction of duty. At the trial, he meets Marlow, who befriends him, and tries to find him work as a ship-chandler's clerk. Jim tries to remain incognito, but when his past comes out, he abandons the job and moves further East. This is repeated several times. 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. 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 year 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, by taking responsibility, fulfills his destiny at last.

Related Topics:
Hajj - Malay - Bugis

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