Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lord Jim, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Fantasy vs. Reality
Justice and Duty
Racism and Colonialism
Truth and Perspective
Summary
Analysis
Patusan was an important trade area even before Jim’s arrival. Pepper made Dutch traders so passionate that they would alternately cut each other’s throats and perform heroic feats, and Patusan was a particularly rich source of pepper. The region was ruled by a wise Sultan, but at some point, the trading died down (perhaps due to lack of pepper) and the Sultan was replaced by a younger, less impressive successor.
This passage explores colonialism and how greed led people to violence. It also questions the value and morality of heroism. For instance, this section shows how Dutch traders performed heroic deeds not out of any moral obligation but because of their greed over pepper, a coveted spice.
Themes
Literary Devices
Before Jim makes it to Patusan, Stein gives more details about Patusan to Marlow, some of which deal with the seedier side of the area. The government overlooks what Stein does in Patusan, trusting his discretion. There is turmoil in Patusan, with Rajah Allang, one of the current Sultan’s uncles, ransacking defenseless Malays in the country.
This passage makes clear that Patusan is not some homogenous area; rather, it is a vibrant place with its own complicated system of factions and rivalries.
Themes
Marlow himself meets Rajah Allang (at some later time) and describes him as a dirty man strung out on opium. During this visit Jim is also there with them, looking grim and serious, dressed all in white. Jim is indifferent to any potential danger.
Although the novel contains anti-racist themes, the evil opium-addled Rajah Allang is arguable a racial stereotype of how European citizens pictured the residents of Asian countries they would colonize.
Themes
Marlow (in the present) reflects on how when he and Stein were first making preparations for Jim to go to Patusan, they had no idea how things would turn out. Marlow believes that he was honest with Jim about Stein’s offer to go to Patusan—in fact, Marlow felt at the time that he exaggerated the danger of the mission to make sure Jim didn’t take it lightly. In hindsight, however, Marlow feels that he may not have given Jim enough warning, since Jim’s first day in Patusan nearly killed him.
It's unclear to what extent Marlow believes what he’s saying here. At times, it seems like he’s trying to justify his past actions, insisting that he knew that Jim would be safe, when in fact a part of him suspected (correctly) that Jim’s journey to Patusan would involve real danger.
Themes
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When Jim first hears about Patusan from Marlow, he comes to life and feels grateful to Stein. He feels honored for an opportunity to prove himself. What attracts him most about the offer is that once he goes away to Patusan, it will be as if he never existed in the outside world.
Previously, Jim turned down a job on the American West Coast because he believed his past would haunt him wherever he went. But Patusan is (mostly) unconnected to the global trade routes where Jim spent his early career, and so despite being physically closer to his past than he’d be in California, it represents a whole new society where he can start again.
Themes
