Summary At this point, Marlow interrupts his narrative in order to introduce us to the incredible person of Doramin, the longtime friend of Stein. Doramin, Marlow says, was remarkable. He was an imposing, monumental hulk of a man, with proud, staring eyes. In contrast, his wife was light, delicate, quick, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 26-27Summary and Analysis Chapters 24-25
Summary Two years later, Marlow visited Patusan, carrying a message from Stein to Jim, which instructed Jim to set up a proper trading post. Marlow marveled at the misty ocean, the swampy plains, and the far-off blue mountain peaks. He stopped at a fishing village and engaged an old man […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 24-25Summary and Analysis Chapters 22-23
Summary Patusan, we are told, was often used by adventurers to satisfy either their greed or their need to perform heroic deeds. It was savage country, shut off from the rest of the world. A man could feel as though he were a “hero” if he went there to go […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 22-23Summary and Analysis Chapters 20-21
Summary Marlow entered Stein’s house late in the evening and was struck immediately by the dramatic figure of the old man, sitting at his desk, washed in the glow of a single spot of light in the darkened room. Then Marlow’s eyes caught the outlines of the cases containing Stein’s […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 20-21Summary and Analysis Chapters 18-19
Summary Six months later, while Marlow was in Hong Kong, he received a letter from a Mr. Denver, the owner of a rice mill, the friend to whom he recommended Jim. Denver, an eccentric, middle-aged bachelor, wrote quietly but glowingly about Jim; he was especially fond of Jim’s quality of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 18-19Summary and Analysis Chapters 15-17
Summary Marlow finally found Jim gazing emptily off the quay, and he told him to come to his room. Jim followed him, seemingly still in a daze. Marlow led him into his bedroom and began writing letters immediately, so that Jim could feel that he was not totally alone, but […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 15-17Summary and Analysis Chapter 14
Summary The day of Jim’s sentencing arrived. Marlow imagined Jim on a scaffolding, ready to be beheaded. But Jim’s punishment was not that romantic; still, however, it was every bit as cruel. Jim’s certificate to be a British naval officer was canceled. He could never again serve aboard a ship […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 14Summary and Analysis Chapters 12-13
Summary The narrative now focuses on what happened when Jim and the three crewmen were picked up next day by the Avondale. The German skipper recited the alibi agreed on by all the crewmen, except Jim. The first lifeboat, the skipper said, was lowered slowly to avoid panic, and then […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 12-13Summary and Analysis Chapters 10-11
Summary Bobbing violently in the pitch blackness and the pelting rain, the lifeboat drifted away from the Patna. Jim remembered that he heard the sea “hissing like twenty thousand kettles.” He was so horrified that finally he jumped to save himself. He left 800 helpless Moslems to drown in the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 10-11Summary and Analysis Chapter 9
Summary Watching the other officers battle to free the lifeboats, Jim was so maddened by the sudden “black, black” squall and the impending disaster that he grabbed his knife and sliced the ropes holding the lifeboats; then he gazed on the almost comical struggling scene below “of four men fighting […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 9