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Chapter 20
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
Marlow’s associate Stein arranges to send Jim to Patusan, a remote region of Southeast Asia known for “irregularities and aberrations.” Stein knows more about Patusan than even the government. Stein makes a mysterious comment about a woman who died in Patusan, although Marlow trusts that Stein has no involvement. As far as Marlow knows, the only woman for Stein is his Malay wife. Stein’s previous agent in Patusan, a Portuguese man named Cornelius, will be relieved of his duties by Jim.
From what Marlow can gather, the dead woman is Patusan is somehow connected to Stein’s need for a new manager of a trading post there, and Jim takes on this role. Patusan is remote and ruled by natives—Patusan is both the name of a larger district and the name of the main settlement in the district. When Marlow goes to visit Jim in Patusan, he finds that Jim’s house is very nice and built in the native style. Jim seems to take pride in how efficiently he’s running things in Patusan.
The name Patusan sounds somewhat similar to Patna, containing the same letters. This coincidence is likely intentional, given how many other places in the novel Conrad uses doubles. Patusan is supposed to represent the opposite of the Patna, a new future to help him break free of the past, and at least at first, Jim seems to make good use of his new start.
Themes
Marlow reflects on the power of fantasy and about how imaginative Jim is. He is relieved to see that in Patusan, Jim doesn’t take to drinking but seems to grow and expand in his new role. Marlow feels that Jim achieves greatness, although Marlow notes that intense things, like sparks from a stone, don’t always last.
Jim’s success in Patusan shows how a person’s environment influences their life. On the other hand, it’s possible that the cowardly other crew members of the Patna inspired the worst in Jim. Nevertheless, Marlow’s ominous meditation about fleeting sparks from a stone, suggests that no matter where Jim is, he still retains some of his old rashness.
Themes
