Lord Jim

First edition cover
Author	Joseph Conrad
Country	Britain
Language	English
Genre(s)	Psychological novel
Publisher	Blackwood
Released	1900
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	451 p. (first edition hardcover)
ISBN	N/A

Lord Jim is a novel by Joseph Conrad, originally published in Blackwood's Magazine from October 1899 to November 1900. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Joseph Conrad. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The psychological novel is a type of novel supposed to have originated with Giovanni Boccaccio in 1344 CE, in La Fiammetta. ... Blackwoods Magazine was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. ... See also: 1899 in literature, other events of 1900, 1901 in literature, list of years in literature. ... A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) book is bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth or heavy paper) and a stitched spine. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Joseph Conrad. ... Blackwoods Magazine was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. ... See also: 1899 in literature, other events of 1900, 1901 in literature, list of years in literature. ...

It's central occurrence is based on true events - although Conrad never confirmed this, it seems too much of a coincidence not to be correct. On 17 July 1880 the S.S. Jeddah sailed from Singapore bound for Penang and Jeddah, with 778 men, 147 women and 67 children on board. They were Muslims from the Malay states and were travelling to Mecca and Medina for the holy pilgrimage.

The Jeddah sailed under the British flag but was owned by the Singapore Steamship Company, whose managing director Seyyid Muhammad al-Sagoff came from a wealthy Arab family, originally from Hadhramaut in south-east Yemen but 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 August, the ships' boilers ‘started adrift from their seatings’ and the Jeddah had been taking in water. It sprang a heavy leak, the water rose rapidly and the captain and the European 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. The pilgrims were left to their fate, an apparently certain death.

However, to much astonishment, given reports of its loss, on 8 August a French steamship towed the Jeddah into Aden - the pilgrims had survived. 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 was the dishonourable tale that 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 works in two main parts, firstly Jim's moral lapse aboard the Patna, and secondly an adventure story about Jim's rise and fall amongst the people of Patusan - supposedly in the Indonesian archipelago. The main themes surround young Jim's potential "....he was one of us." (Marlow) thus sharpening the drama and tradgedy of his fall, his subsequent struggle to redeem himself and Conrad's further hints that peoples' character flaws will almost always emerge given an appropriate trigger.

The novel

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 often tell their own stories in nested dialogue. Thus, events in the novel are described from many view points, and in many cases, out of chronological order. Such a multi-faceted vision could not be achieved using the account of an omniscient narrator, or by the first-person narration of Jim.

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 by Joseph Conrad. ... Y ... Chance is a novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1913 following serial publication the previous year. ...

Plot summary

Jim is a young British seaman and mate on the Patna, a ship full of pilgrims performing the hajj. In a momentary lapse (whether of courage, or judgment, or character) when the ship is considered stricken Jim joins his captain and other crew members in abandoning the ship and passengers. As fate would have it the ship is saved and the reprehensible actions of the crew emerge. The other miscreants evade justice leaving Jim to face a court of enquiry alone. The court strips him of his nautical certificate for his dereliction of duty and Jim is alone angry with himself both for his moment of weakness and for missing an opportunity of attaining heroic status. At the trial, he meets Marlow, who out of incredulous curiosity of Jim's motives, befriends him and tries to find him work as a ship chandler's clerk. Jim tries to remain incognito, but whenever the calumny of the Patna incident catches up with him he moves further east. The Hajj (Arabic: ‎, transliteration: ; Turkish: ; Ottoman Turkish: حاج, Hāc; Malay: , Bosnian: ) is the Pilgrimage to Mecca in Islam. ...

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 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. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Jim is ultimately seen as a misguided fool - he had long dreamed and romanced of heroic adventures with himself at the centre of the action. His shame forces him to be ever (and unrealistically) true to himself and this has the tragic consequences of him constantly pursuing redemption succeeding only in wasting his life.

Lord Jim , cover of 1981 Bantum Modern Classics edition of the 1900 novel.

Image File history File links Lord_Jim_cover. ... Image File history File links Lord_Jim_cover. ...

Allusions/references from other works

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

Film adaptations

The book has twice been adapted for film:

• Lord Jim (1925), directed by Victor Fleming.
• Lord Jim (1965), directed by Richard Brooks and starring Peter O'Toole as Lord Jim.

Lord Jim is a 1925 film by Victor Fleming. ... See also: 1924 in film 1925 1926 in film 1920s in film years in film film Events Top grossing films Ben-Hur His People The Unholy Three The Freshman Movies released Movies released in 1925 include: Ben-Hur, starring Ramon Novarro. ... Victor Fleming (February 23, 1883 - January 6, 1949) (sometimes Vic Fleming) was an American film director. ... Lord Jim is a 1965 adventure film, directed by Richard Brooks. ... // Events Top grossing films North America Mary Poppins The Sound of Music, starring Julie Andrews Goldfinger My Fair Lady Whats New Pussycat? Shenandoah The Sandpiper Father Goose Academy Awards Best Picture: The Sound of Music - Argyle, Twentieth Century-Fox Best Actor: Lee Marvin - Cat Ballou Best Actress: Julie Christie... For the actor, see Richard Brooks (actor) Richard Brooks (May 18, 1912-March 11, 1992) was a Hollywood film writer, director, and (occasionally) producer. ... Peter Seamus OToole (born Peter James OToole on August 2, 1932) is an eight-time Academy Award-nominated Irish actor. ...

External links

• Lord Jim, available at Project Gutenberg..
• The Literary Encyclopedia
• "Stephen Crane as a Source for Conrad's Jim", Nina Galen, Nineteenth-Century Fiction, vol. 38, no. 1 (1983).
• Biography of Conrad by Deborah Lindsay Williams