Lord Jim is a novel by Joseph Conrad about a young man who leaves his home in England to seek adventure and excitement in the East. He eventually becomes shipwrecked and is rescued by a native tribe. However, when he returns to England, he is haunted by his experience and feels tremendous guilt for abandoning his ship and crew. This theme of guilt is a major part of the novel and drives Jim to attempt to redeem himself. Lord Jim is an exploration of the human psyche and the effects of guilt on a person’s life.
In the novel Lord Jim, Conrad depicts Jim’s guilt via the central character. “Jim’s spiritual journey explores the subject of guilt” (Kuehn 35). Jim is a brave individual at heart, but he is overpowered by his guilty feelings. Jim is someone who lives in fear. He longs to be a hero at sea and his aspirations are repeatedly dashed. As a result, he feels badly about himself.
Kuehn states that “Guilt becomes the motivating factor in Jim’s life, impelling him to act out of character and to search for a way to expiate his guilt” (36). Conrad makes it evident that Jim is not the only one with guilt. The other characters in Lord Jim also have their own sense of responsibility and guilt.
This can be seen with the Patna incident where all the passengers abandoned the ship, leaving Jim as the only person on board. There are different types of guilt that are represented in Lord Jim. One type of guilt is an overwhelming sense of responsibility. Another type is regret for past actions. And finally, there is self-guilt, which is when a person feels guilty for their own thoughts and feelings. Jim experiences all of these types of guilt throughout the novel.
Lord Jim is a story about a man who is struggling to come to terms with his past. The theme of guilt is a big part of that struggle. Jim’s guilt drives him to do things that he wouldn’t normally do and it also causes him to isolate himself from the people around him. Conrad does an excellent job at portraying the theme of guilt through the main character, Jim. This makes Lord Jim a very interesting and unique novel.
Throughout the book, Jim’s guilt torments him and prevents him from reclaiming his position as a respectable individual. When Jim is at sea, he feels guilt for the first time. The sea engulfs a passing boat nearby, and all of the people on board are thrown into the water to save passengers. Because she was too late, Jim felt guilty for missing out on becoming a hero. This event, however , is just a blunder that Jim makes. His subsequent failure is at the heart of his guilt in the novel.
While in Patusan, Jim achieves a sort of heroism. He is able to protect the people of Patusan from the evil robbers and murderers who attack them. Jim becomes a great leader and is looked up to by the people. However, this all changes when he allows his friend Dain Waris to be killed.
Dain Waris had saved Jim’s life numerous times and Jim was supposed to protect him. When Jim let Dain Waris die, he once again felt guilt. This time however, his guilt led to him becoming an outcast. The people of Patusan no longer wanted anything to do with him and he was forced to leave.
Jim’s final encounter with guilt comes when he meets Jewel. Jewel is a woman who Jim had been seeing before he left for Patusan. When he returns, he finds that she has married someone else. Jim is again filled with guilt, this time for leaving her behind.
Jim is injured at sea and must remain in a hospital in the Middle East. When he is well enough to go back out to sea, he is offered a position on the Patna. The ship is dark, dismal, and quite old. When sailing through tremendous storms, the Patna collides with a tiny boat. Jim runs about the vessel looking for the rest of his crew. Jim discovers his counterparts and they inform him that the ship is sinking. Jim begins to worry about the eight hundred passengers aboard because they are sleeping in the cabin below deck.
Jim makes the decision to leave the ship and all of the people on it. Jim feels an intense guilt for his actions. He runs away from society and changes his name. Jim travels to different parts of the world looking for a place to hide from his past. Conrad uses Lord Jim as an example of someone who tries to cover up his mistakes. The novel addresses the question of how a person can atone for their sins. Lord Jim is forced to confront his guilt head on. In the end, he is able to find some peace within himself.
Jim knows that there aren’t enough little boats for all of them to fit in. The rest of the crew decides to take the boats and leave the pilgrims to sink with the ship. Jim stands by the side of the ship, where others are leaping into small boats. The other officers urge him to jump and abandon the followers.
Jim made up his own mind. “So, when a summon was made to a deceased man, Jim leaped into his ‘eternal deep hole,’ but it was a call intended for a part of him; hence he leaped. It was a component of himself that he feared acknowledging”
The guilt that Jim feels is two-fold. First, he feels guilty for abandoning the pilgrims when the rest of the crew leaves them behind. Second, he feels guilty for not being able to save the pilgrims when the ship sinks. This second layer of guilt is what drives Jim to suicide. He cannot live with the fact that he was not able to save those who trusted him.
Jim’s sense of responsibility and his need to atone for his actions are what make him a tragic figure. He is a man who is consumed by his guilt and his need to make things right. In the end, his quest for redemption leads to his own downfall.