When Marlow is reminiscing about his early days as a sailor, he tells a story of about a captain named Matherson who lived in Vietnam, alluding to the colonial occupation of Vietnam in the process:
“All this was taking place, more than two years afterwards, on board that nautical ruin the Fire-Queen this Jones had got charge of—quite by a funny accident, too—from Matherson—mad Matherson they generally called him—the same who used to hang out in Haï-phong, you know, before the occupation days.”
When Marlow mentions “the occupation days” in Haï-phong, he is alluding to the period in the mid to late 19th century when France colonized and controlled Vietnam (as well as Laos and Cambodia). This reference is significant because it highlights the fact that, by the time Conrad published Lord Jim in 1900, colonization had affected all of Southeast Asia. Though the story is set primarily in maritime Southeast Asia (which includes Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore), this allusion demonstrates that mainland Southeast Asia (including Vietnam) faced similar challenges related to the reach of European imperialism. By including a reference to France’s occupation of Vietnam, Conrad shows that he is not just raising awareness about the scope of Britain’s colonial impulses but that of Europe as a whole.
When introducing the character of Stein, Marlow shares some of the man’s history, including an allusion to “the revolutionary movement of 1848,” as seen in the following passage:
“His history was curious. He had been born in Bavaria, and when a youth of twenty-two had taken an active part in the revolutionary movement of 1848. Heavily compromised, he managed to make his escape […]. From there he made his way to Tripoli with a stock of cheap watches to hawk about,—not a very great opening truly, but it turned out lucky enough.”
The “movement” to which Marlow is alluding in this passage was a series of revolutions between 1848 and 1849 that took place in over 50 countries (starting in France and then spreading across Europe as well as other parts of the globe). As Marlow states, Stein was a student in Bavaria at the time, meaning that he was likely part of the youth-led uprisings in favor of German national unity and freedom of the press.
This allusion—and passage as a whole—highlights the ways that idealistic young people can lose their vision and drive, becoming jaded and corrupt in their later years. Stein’s trajectory from revolutionary actor to hawker of “cheap watches” to European colonizer running shady businesses in Southeast Asia demonstrates how difficult it is to maintain integrity. This is something that the romantic and adventurous Jim also learns over the course of the novel, as he abandons the passengers of the Patna and unintentionally betrays the people of Patusan.
When Stein is telling Marlow about his adventures catching rare butterflies for his collection, he quotes an unnamed poet, indirectly alluding to the play Torquato Tasso by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
“‘I had dreamed of him in my sleep, and here suddenly I had him in my fingers—for myself! In the words of the poet’ (he pronounced it ‘boet’)— ‘So halt’ ich’s endlich denn in meinen Händen, Und nenn’ es in gewissem Sinne mein.’ He gave to the last word the emphasis of a suddenly lowered voice, and withdrew his eyes slowly from my face.”
Torquato Tasso was a play about the 16th-century Italian poet Torquato Tasso’s descent into madness that Geothe published in 1790. The portion of the play that Stein quotes here roughly translates into English as, "I hold it thus, at last, within my hands. And in an unambiguous sense can call it mine."
While Stein is referring to a butterfly when he says these words, it’s likely that Conrad is making a connection here between Stein’s impulse to kill, own, and display butterflies with the European colonial impulse to harm, control, and also fetishize Asian cultures. Conrad demonstrates time and again in the novel how (many of) the European characters view the Southeast Asian characters as existing “within [their] hands” as objects they can control. Stein’s comfort with running shady (and possibly deadly) businesses in Patusan proves that he views the people there as existing for his benefit, similar to the way butterflies exist to be in his collection.
