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
Marlow sees the coast of Patusan for himself two years after he first gets Jim set up there. It is a swampy, dark, and isolated place. At a fishing village near the mouth of a river, Marlow meets an elder. Marlow believes that he’s the second white man the elder has ever seen (the first being Jim). The elder calls Jim “Tuan Jim” (a term of reverence), saying that his whole village is under Jim’s protection.
The transformation of just Jim into “Tuan Jim” was foreshadowed in the very first chapter of the book. While Jim achieves some real successes in Patusan, this passage also shows how he remains a mystery to the locals, suggesting a potential disconnect.
Themes
The elder talks about how from Jim’s first appearance in the fishing village, he seemed to be blessed, although they are confused at first by his request to be taken to Patusan, wondering what Rajah Allang would make of this request. They begin the long canoe ride up the river to Patusan, and Jim struggles to remain stoic in the hot sun that gives him blisters. Jim himself tells Marlow about the canoe journey during a later visit, when Marlow is at Jim’s house in Patusan, recalling how he felt fatigued and struggled to stay awake.
Jim’s struggles with exhaustion and heat show how as a white European he is not as well-adapted to the region of Patusan as the Malay locals. Nevertheless, because Jim is so unusual in the area, it causes the locals to regard him differently, and this is how he begins to build up a legendary name for himself.
Themes
When Jim and Marlow talk at his house, Jim says he likes to watch the little lights out his window, which show when people of the village are going to sleep. He feels that he is trusted in every house where a light goes out at night. Jim tells Marlow he has not thought of leaving—that Marlow was ridiculous to ever have that concern in the first place. Marlow tells Jim that Stein wants to set up a trading post in Patusan. Marlow is proud to see what Jim has accomplished in Patusan, even though the very things that make Jim a master of his domain in Patusan have also in a way made him a captive of the place.
Jim’s success in Patusan shows how he grows with positive reinforcement. While the cowardly crew members of the Patna helped convince Jim to jump, the villagers of Patusan convince Jim to be more altruistic. Nevertheless, Marlow notices that Jim hasn’t been able to shake his reliance of caring about what other people think, and Marlow recognizes that this tendency might cause Jim to become a prisoner of the very people who helped him flourish.
Themes
