Lord Jim

CONRAD, Joseph (Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski) (1857-1924), was born of Polish parents in the Russian-dominated Ukraine. His father political opinions caused the family to be exiled to Volagda, in northern Russia, where Conrad´s mother died when he was 7. His father also died after their return to Poland, and Conrad went to live with his uncle, Tadeusz Bobrowski, who had an enormous influence in his life. From an early age he began the career as a sailor, and in 1874 he went to Marseilles. In 1886 he became a British subject and a master mariner. In 1894, after twenty years at sea, he settled in England and devoted himself to writing in English, his third language. Towards the end of his literary career, Conrad was well established as one of the leading Modernists; a decline of interest in the 1930s was followed by increasing scholarly and critical attention. Today, Conrad is placed among the very great novelists in English language.

"Lord Jim" (1900). Jim is chief mate on board the "Patna". When the ship threatens to sink, the officers decide to save their own skins and escape in the few lifeboats. Jim despises them, but at the last moment jump into their boat. The Patna is finally rescued. What happens to Jim thereafter is related by an observer, Marlow.