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Stein
Gentleman Brown is a notorious sailor who causes havoc for Jim in Patusan, ultimately leading to Jim’s death. Marlow meets Brown on Brown’s deathbed, and so while the version of events that Marlow hears portrays Brown as someone cunning and daring, the reader should take Brown’s version of events with a grain of salt. But even Brown’s version of events makes it clear that Brown was a nasty character. At one point, he orders an innocent Malay man to be shot dead, simply to prove how effective Brown’s crew’s guns are a distance. Later, when Jim shows Brown mercy, Brown returns the favor by ambushing some Malay warriors, killing Dain Waris. This attack accomplishes nothing for Brown—it is simply his way of leaving his mark on the world. Brown represents pure evil in the story, in particular the evil of white men who carelessly exploit and disregard the lives of people in the lands they colonize.
Gentleman Brown Quotes in Lord Jim
The Lord Jim quotes below are all either spoken by Gentleman Brown or refer to Gentleman Brown. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 44 Quotes
‘Thus Brown balanced his account with the evil fortune. Notice that even in this awful outbreak there is a superiority as of a man who carries right—the abstract thing—within the envelope of his common desires. It was not a vulgar and treacherous massacre; it was a lesson, a retribution—a demonstration of some obscure and awful attribute of our nature which, I am afraid, is not so very far under the surface as we like to think.’
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Chapter 45 Quotes
‘Who knows? He is gone, inscrutable at heart, and the poor girl is leading a sort of soundless, inert life in Stein’s house. Stein has aged greatly of late. He feels it himself, and says often that he is “preparing to leave all this; preparing to leave . . .” while he waves his hand sadly at his butterflies.’
September 1899—July 1900.
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Gentleman Brown Character Timeline in Lord Jim
The timeline below shows where the character Gentleman Brown appears in Lord Jim. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 37
...the privileged reader about the end of Jim’s story, which begins with a man named Brown who steals a Spanish schooner. Marlow speaks to Brown—who is notorious and known as Gentleman...
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Eight months before Marlow meets Brown, he goes to see Stein in Samarang (in Indonesia). At Stein’s place, he sees a...
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Chapter 38
Marlow’s longer letter begins with the statement that everything starts with the man Brown, whom Marlow briefly mentioned earlier. Gentleman Brown is supposedly the son of a baronet, but...
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With the help of a loyal crewmember from the Solomon Islands, Brown manages to reunite with his crew and steal a Spanish vessel. Brown’s eventual goal is...
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There are sixteen men with Brown, and fourteen of them go with him up the river toward Patusan in a smaller...
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Brown and his men land their boat and go inland to take up a position on...
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Chapter 39
Marlow continues his letter, noting how Brown’s arrival that night is significant to Jim’s story. At the time of Brown’s arrival, Jim...
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...him to the Rajah. His plan is to use Cornelius as an interpreter to contact Brown.
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Brown’s men hear a voice in English asking them for permission to approach. It’s Cornelius. He...
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Kassim hopes that Brown and his men will be able to defeat the Bugis before Jim gets back—he figures...
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Kassim is anxious for Brown to order his big schooner to come down the river and offers to send a...
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Chapter 40
Brown hopes to delay until Jim gets back, thinking Jim will be the best person to...
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At one point, to show the power of himself and his men, Brown asks his second-in-command to shoot a random Malay villager dead from a great distance. Brown...
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Kassim goes back to Dain Waris and warns him that Brown’s warship is coming up the river, but he downplays its power and says the Bugis...
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One of Brown’s men remembers that there is some tobacco left in their longboat and asks if it’s...
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With Cornelius translating, Brown confirms that he hears the voice telling them to stop. The voice says there will...
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Eventually the wounded man dies. There’s a sound from the nearby village, and Brown asks Cornelius what’s happened. Cornelius says Jim must be back and that he’ll come talk...
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Chapter 41
As Jim approaches Brown’s men, Cornelius points him out. Jim and Brown go off to talk. Brown hates Jim...
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Brown knows what to say to provoke Jim and his pride. Brown claims that he came...
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Chapter 42
Brown and Jim’s conversation by the creek is like a duel. Brown seems to have been...
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Brown insists to Jim that the one Malay he killed was killed cleanly, whereas Brown’s wounded...
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Jim at last asks Brown if he’ll promise to leave at once and surrender his crews’ arms. Brown refuses to...
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When Brown returns, Cornelius is angry that Brown didn’t kill Jim, but Brown insists he did even...
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Chapter 43
Tamb’ Itam is shocked to hear Jim say that he believes it’s best to let Brown’s men go. Jim reminds everyone that he has never deceived them before. Eventually, everyone agrees...
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Although Jim seems to trust Brown, he is still worried about a possible misunderstanding causing problems. He feels responsible for the...
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Cornelius, however, lingers and says he can tell Brown something interesting. Brown doesn’t want to hear it, but Cornelius insists that Jim intends to...
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The warriors of Patusan remain on alert, but all seems peaceful as Brown’s longboat comes down the river. There’s a light fog that day. Jim tells them as...
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Chapter 44
As the longboat enters a narrow channel, Brown tells his men that they’ll have a chance to get even with the villagers of...
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Brown lands his boat and stealthily leads his men to Dain Waris’s Bugis camp. They attack...
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Later, Brown and two skeletal-looking men are found at sea in a longboat on the Indian Ocean....
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