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
The next morning in Patusan, Jim comes with Marlow on the first part of Marlow’s journey back to the outer world. They become more emotionally distant with each other as their physical separation gets closer. When they make it out of the river to the sea, Marlow marvels at the vastness of the horizon, but Jim seems hesitant to acknowledge it.
The emotional distance between Jim and Marlow helps each of them prepare for their coming separation, which each of them knows will be long, perhaps even permanent. Jim’s hesitance to look at the horizon symbolizes how, metaphorically, he’s also stopped looking to the horizon, limiting his sights to Patusan’s borders.
Themes
Literary Devices
Marlow has a clear memory of that afternoon. He remembers how people in a fishing village came up to Jim and brought to him their problems with Rajah Allang. This renews Jim’s belief that he has to stay in Patusan to help people. Jim seems sad about potentially never seeing Marlow again. He begins asking Marlow to “Tell them . . .”, but he doesn’t finish the thought. As Marlow leaves, the Malay fishermen fade from view first, while Jim’s lighter skin stands out against the background longer, until it too fades away. This is the last time Marlow sees Jim.
Like many dreamers, Jim doesn’t always finish what he starts. At many points in the story, Jim speaks in incomplete sentences, particularly when overcome with emotion. His inability to complete the sentence “Tell them . . .” is particularly significant. While Jim has always cared about an abstract “them” (i.e., people watching and judging him, his reputation), he finds at this moment that he has nothing in particular to say to the outside world and no one in particular to say it to.
Themes
Literary Devices
