Lord Jim

A detailed Summary of Lord Jim

Throughout all of Conrad's writings there has never been one character which stood out the most like Jim, in Lord Jim. Jim is a person destined to be a hero, but too shy and scared to be considered one. When reading the opening paragraph, one would be led to believe that Jim is a great man destined for fame. From his appearance he would scare many with his great size and muscular makeup.

· He was and inch, perhaps two, under six feet, powerfully built, and he advanced straight at you with a slight stoop of the shoulders, head forward, and a fixed from-under stare which made one think of a charging bull. His voice was deep, loud, and his manner displayed a kind of dogged self-assertion which had nothing aggressive in it... He was spotlessly neat, appareled in immaculate white from shoes to hat,... (Conrad 1)

Jim's appearance nonetheless is obscured by a mist of darkness, which hinders his human nature (DiMauro 95). Overall, Jim's physique shows the great hero he should be, but his lack of wanting to be a hero is relevant in his true self. Jim dreamed of adventures and had a great imagination of seeking fame. However, dreaming still is not reality. As the novel opens, Jim is a trainee on

After the death of the Pilgrims, Jim was tried in court over his involvement that resulted in so many lives being lost. Jim flees the court and puts himself in exile. During his self punishment he travels from port to port to find release from his shame. Still, he cannot forget his past, much less get it out of his head. Everywhere he travels his peers remind him of his past. Left to wander from place to place, living in his regret, he finally finds another place to call home. "His efforts create order and well-being in a previous chaotic community and he wins the respect and affection of the people for whom he becomes Tuan- or Lord Jim. He has achieved some sense of peace, but the memory of his jump is still with him"(Stapleton 586). Jim gaining respect of the people still does not live up to his goals as a hero, because he still thinks nothing can make up for the incident on board the Patna.

Jim finally, after a long wait, has his turn at sea and wants to make something of himself. "He had never in his life made a mistake, never had an accident, never a mishap, never a check in his steady rise, and he seemed to be one of those lucky fellows who knew nothing of indecision, much less of self-mistrust"(36). Jim eventually makes a mistake in his life and his mistake was a big one. He, along with the other crew members, fled the Patna after many rumors of it sinking. This error in Jim's eyes will regret him for the rest of his life because he and the other members left eight-hundred pilgrims onboard the ship where they later drowned (Mudrick 1

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lord Jim, Overall Jim, Jim Jim, Overall Jim's, Pilgrims Jim, University Press, lord jim, Throughout Conrad's, Cliffs Prentice-Hall, Buccaneer Books, cambridge university press, university press, cambridge university, Cambridge University, true meaning, death pilgrims, life mistake, 586 jim, rest life, jim finally, overall jim, detroit cambridge university,

Approximate Word count = 1062
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English