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
As the longboat enters a narrow channel, Brown tells his men that they’ll have a chance to get even with the villagers of Patusan soon enough. Meanwhile, Tamb’ Itam makes his way to Dain Waris and gives Jim’s message about letting Brown pass unharmed, including a ring to prove the authenticity of the message. Dain Waris makes plans for his men to return.
Brown promotes a twisted idea of justice—while Jim and the people of Patusan have lately tried to make peace with Brown’s crew, Brown still harbors a sense of having been wronged. Brown feels that it’s his right to walk into places like Patusan and plunder to his heart’s content, so anything less than that outcome is a cause for him to seek revenge.
Themes
Brown lands his boat and stealthily leads his men to Dain Waris’s Bugis camp. They attack suddenly, all 14 of them firing at once. It’s so surprising that Tamb’ Itam recalls that no one moved for a while. Tamb’ Itam himself pretends to fall down dead but keeps his eyes open, and he sees Dain Waris get shot in the forehead. Eventually, Brown and his men leave unseen.
Later, Brown and two skeletal-looking men are found at sea in a longboat on the Indian Ocean. Brown tells a story about a cargo steamer wreck that he survived. When they flee after firing their rifles, they leave Cornelius behind. Cornelius runs into Tamb’ Itam, who kills him. There is disorder and confusion among Dain Waris’s men, who scatter but eventually all make their way back to the village on their own.
Marlow’s assessment that Cornelius is a person of no consequence ends up having some truth to it. Despite Cornelius’s role in Brown’s betrayal of Jim, ultimately Cornelius is just a minor figure who gets killed immediately after the attack.
Themes
