When capturing the power of the storm that threatened to sink the Patna (after the ship had already been damaged by an underwater object), Marlow uses vivid imagery, as seen in the following passage:
“A straight edge of vapour lined with sickly whitish gleams flies up from the southwest, swallowing the stars in whole constellations; its shadow flies over the waters, and confounds sea and sky into one abyss of obscurity. And all is still. No thunder, no wind, no sound; not a flicker of lightning. Then in the tenebrous immensity a livid arch appears; a swell or two like undulations of the very darkness run past, and suddenly, wind and rain strike together with a peculiar impetuosity as if they had burst through something solid.”
The imagery in this passage engages different senses, encouraging readers to visualize the “straight edge of vapour lined with sickly whitish gleams” that “swallow[s] the stars” and turns “sea and sky into one abyss of obscurity” while also helping them hear, in the “still” silence, the moment when “wind and rain strike together with a peculiar impetuosity as if they had burst through something solid.” These rich and haunting descriptions of the storm prepare readers for the chaos of the scene to come, in which the crew and passengers start to panic. It is precisely because of the immense power of the storm (as captured via this imagery) that Jim ultimately decides to abandon the ship in order to keep himself safe.
When Marlow is trying to find a job opportunity for Jim after he loses his position as a sailor (due to abandoning the Patna), Marlow’s acquaintance Chester tries to pitch him on recruiting Jim to join his get-rich-quick scheme involving guana (fertilizer made from the excrement of seabirds and bats). In describing his response to this offer, Marlow uses imagery, as seen in the following passage:
“I said nothing. I had a rapid vision of Jim perched on a shadowless rock, up to his knees in guano, with the screams of sea-birds in his ears, the incandescent ball of the sun above his head; the empty sky and the empty ocean all a-quiver, simmering together in the heat as far as the eye could reach. ‘I wouldn’t advise my worst enemy . . .’ I began.”
Marlow’s use of imagery here communicates his revulsion at Chester’s proposal. Alongside Marlow, readers can see Jim all alone “perched on a shadowless rock,” smell the putrid fumes of guano that is “up to his knees,” hear “the screams of sea-birds,” and feel the sky and ocean “simmering together in the heat.” All of this imagery combines to help readers understand why Marlow says no to this proposal. As readers and Marlow all know, Jim craves romantic adventures and heroic escapades, and shoveling bat excrement in the heat all day does not qualify as either of those things.
