Lord Jim is a novel by Joseph Conrad originally published as a serial in Blackwood’s Magazine from October 1899 to November 1900. An early and primary event is the abandonment of a ship in distress by its crew including the young British seaman Jim. He is publicly censured for this action and the novel follows his later attempts at coming to terms with his past. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Lord Jim #85 on its list of the 100 best English language novels of the 20th century.
Jim (his surname is never told), a young British seaman, becomes first mate on the Patna, a ship full of pilgrims traveling to Mecca for the hajj. When the ship starts rapidly taking on water and disaster seems imminent, 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 participants evade the judicial court of inquiry, leaving Jim to the court 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’.
About the author
‘My task, which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel–it is, before all, to make you see.’ ‘You shall judge of a man by his foes as well as by his friends.’ ‘Never test another man by your own weakness.’ ‘It is my belief no man ever understands quite his own artful dodges to escape from the grim shadow of self-knowledge.’Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim
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