Lord Jim

by

Joseph Conrad

Patusan Symbol Icon

Unlike the Patna, which is the source of Jim’s deep shame, Patusan becomes a new opportunity for Jim that gives him a chance to grow. It symbolizes the positive and negative potential of romantic ideals. Joseph Conrad’s works often feature doubles and opposites, and so it makes sense that the novel pairs and contrasts the Patna with the similar-sounding Patusan. Patusan is the first place in the world where Jim is treated with awe and respect—so much so that he earns the title “Tuan Jim” (Lord Jim). The Malay residents of the village see Jim as a legendary figure, exaggerating his positive qualities and seeing Jim in the same romantic way that Jim sees himself. But while Jim flourishes with the encouragement of the residents of Patusan, he also becomes a sort of prisoner, both to his own high ideals and to his sense of responsibility toward protecting the  villagers. When Jim fails to protect his friend Dain Waris, he also fails to be the perfect leader that he and his followers expect him to be. As a result, he sees no choice but to sacrifice himself in order to die with honor, all for the sake of satisfying an ideal. Patusan, then, represents both the positive and negative aspects of fantasy: how romantic ideals can bring out the best in a person, but also how being overly committed to ideals can lead to self-destruction.

Patusan Quotes in Lord Jim

The Lord Jim quotes below all refer to the symbol of Patusan. 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:
Fantasy vs. Reality Theme Icon
).
Chapter 19 Quotes

‘All this was in the past, but I knew the story of his life and the origin of his fortune. He was also a naturalist of some distinction, or perhaps I should say a learned collector. Entomology was his special study. His collection of Buprestidae and Longicorns—beetles all—horrible miniature monsters, looking malevolent in death and immobility, and his cabinet of butterflies, beautiful and hovering under the glass of cases on lifeless wings, had spread his fame far over the earth. The name of this merchant, adventurer, sometime adviser of a Malay sultan (to whom he never alluded otherwise than as “my poor Mohammed Bonso”), had, on account of a few bushels of dead insects, become known to learned persons in Europe, who could have had no conception, and certainly would not have cared to know anything, of his life or character. I, who knew, considered him an eminently suitable person to receive my confidences about Jim’s difficulties as well as my own.’

Related Characters: Marlow (speaker), Jim, Stein
Related Symbols: The Patna, Patusan, Butterflies
Page Number: 153
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

“To tell you the truth, Stein,” I said with an effort that surprised me, “I came here to describe a specimen. . . .”

‘“Butterfly?” he asked, with an unbelieving and humorous eagerness.

‘“Nothing so perfect,” I answered, feeling suddenly dispirited with all sorts of doubts. “A man!”

Related Characters: Marlow (speaker), Stein (speaker), Jim
Related Symbols: Butterflies, Patusan
Page Number: 160
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

‘I don’t suppose any of you have ever heard of Patusan?’ Marlow resumed, after a silence occupied in the careful lighting of a cigar. ‘It does not matter; there’s many a heavenly body in the lot crowding upon us of a night that mankind had never heard of, it being outside the sphere of its activities and of no earthly importance to anybody but to the astronomers who are paid to talk learnedly about its composition, weight, path—the irregularities of its conduct, the aberrations of its light—a sort of scientific scandal-mongering. Thus with Patusan.’

Related Characters: Marlow (speaker), Jim, Stein
Related Symbols: Patusan, The Patna
Page Number: 164
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

‘The conquest of love, honour, men’s confidence—the pride of it, the power of it, are fit materials for a heroic tale; only our minds are struck by the externals of such a success, and to Jim’s successes there were no externals. Thirty miles of forest shut it off from the sight of an indifferent world, and the noise of the white surf along the coast overpowered the voice of fame.’

Related Characters: Marlow (speaker), Jim
Related Symbols: Patusan, The Patna
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 171
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

‘“This is where I was prisoner for three days,” he murmured to me (it was on the occasion of our visit to the Rajah), while we were making our way slowly through a kind of awestruck riot of dependants across Tunku Allang’s courtyard. “Filthy place, isn’t it?”’

Related Characters: Jim (speaker), Marlow (speaker), Doramin, Rajah Allang
Related Symbols: Patusan
Page Number: 189
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 26 Quotes

‘Doramin was one of the most remarkable men of his race I had ever seen. His bulk for a Malay was immense, but he did not look merely fat; he looked imposing, monumental. This motionless body, clad in rich stuffs, coloured silks, gold embroideries; this huge head, enfolded in a red-and-gold headkerchief; the flat, big, round face, wrinkled, furrowed, with two semicircular heavy folds starting on each side of wide, fierce nostrils, and enclosing a thick-lipped mouth; the throat like a bull; the vast corrugated brow overhanging the staring proud eyes—made a whole that, once seen, can never be forgotten. His impassive repose (he seldom stirred a limb when once he sat down) was like a display of dignity.’

Related Characters: Marlow (speaker), Jim, Doramin, Rajah Allang
Related Symbols: Patusan
Page Number: 196
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27 Quotes

‘The popular story has it that Jim with a touch of one finger had thrown down the gate. He was, of course, anxious to disclaim this achievement. The whole stockade—he would insist on explaining to you—was a poor affair […]; and, anyway, the thing had been already knocked to pieces and only hung together by a miracle. He put his shoulder to it like a little fool and went in head over heels. Jove! If it hadn’t been for Dain Waris, a pock-marked tattooed vagabond would have pinned him with his spear to a baulk of timber like one of Stein’s beetles. The third man in, it seems, had been Tamb’ Itam, Jim’s own servant. This was a Malay from the north, a stranger who had wandered into Patusan, and had been forcibly detained by Rajah Allang as paddler of one of the state boats. He had made a bolt of it at the first opportunity, and finding a precarious refuge (but very little to eat) amongst the Bugis settlers, had attached himself to Jim’s person. His complexion was very dark, his face flat, his eyes prominent and injected with bile. There was something excessive, almost fanatical, in his devotion to his “white lord.”’

Related Characters: Marlow (speaker), Jim, Dain Waris, Stein, Tamb’ Itam, Sherif Ali
Related Symbols: Patusan, Butterflies
Page Number: 204
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28 Quotes

‘Next day, talking casually with the people of the little native court of the place, I discovered that a story was travelling slowly down the coast about a mysterious white man in Patusan who had got hold of an extraordinary gem—namely, an emerald of an enormous size, and altogether priceless.’

Related Characters: Marlow (speaker), Jim, Jewel, Cornelius
Related Symbols: Patusan
Page Number: 212
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 29 Quotes

‘This was the theory of Jim’s marital evening walks. I made a third on more than one occasion, unpleasantly aware every time of Cornelius, who nursed the aggrieved sense of his legal paternity, slinking in the neighbourhood with that peculiar twist of his mouth as if he were perpetually on the point of gnashing his teeth.’

Related Characters: Marlow (speaker), Jim, Jewel, Cornelius
Related Symbols: Patusan
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 33 Quotes

‘Why did I come, then? After a slight movement she was as still as a marble statue in the night. I tried to explain briefly: friendship, business; if I had any wish in the matter it was rather to see him stay. . . . “They always leave us,” she murmured. The breath of sad wisdom from the grave which her piety wreathed with flowers seemed to pass in a faint sigh. . . . Nothing, I said, could separate Jim from her.’

Related Characters: Marlow (speaker), Jewel (speaker), Jim
Related Symbols: Patusan, The Patna
Page Number: 235
Explanation and Analysis:
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.’

Related Characters: Marlow (speaker), Jim, Doramin, Dain Waris, Gentleman Brown, The Privileged Reader
Related Symbols: Patusan
Page Number: 309
Explanation and Analysis:
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.

Related Characters: Marlow (speaker), Jim, Doramin, Dain Waris, Stein, Gentleman Brown, Jewel, The Privileged Reader
Related Symbols: Patusan, Butterflies, The Patna
Page Number: 318
Explanation and Analysis:
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Patusan Symbol Timeline in Lord Jim

The timeline below shows where the symbol Patusan appears in Lord Jim. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 21
Justice and Duty Theme Icon
Racism and Colonialism Theme Icon
Truth and Perspective  Theme Icon
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... (full context)
Justice and Duty Theme Icon
Racism and Colonialism Theme Icon
Truth and Perspective  Theme Icon
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,... (full context)
Fantasy vs. Reality Theme Icon
Justice and Duty Theme Icon
Racism and Colonialism Theme Icon
Truth and Perspective  Theme Icon
...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.... (full context)
Chapter 22
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Patusan was an important trade area even before Jim’s arrival. Pepper made Dutch traders so passionate... (full context)
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Before Jim makes it to Patusan, Stein gives more details about Patusan to Marlow, some of which deal with the seedier... (full context)
Fantasy vs. Reality Theme Icon
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...on how when he and Stein were first making preparations for Jim to go to Patusan, they had no idea how things would turn out. Marlow believes that he was honest... (full context)
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When Jim first hears about Patusan from Marlow, he comes to life and feels grateful to Stein. He feels honored for... (full context)
Chapter 23
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After Jim hears Stein’s offer to go to Patusan, Jim feels Stein is the most wonderful man in the world. Stein introduces Jim to... (full context)
Fantasy vs. Reality Theme Icon
Justice and Duty Theme Icon
Racism and Colonialism Theme Icon
Truth and Perspective  Theme Icon
...that much—it’s mostly Jim himself who remembers. Jim, however, remains so excited about going to Patusan that he doesn’t even care about having a plan to get back. Marlow warns him... (full context)
Fantasy vs. Reality Theme Icon
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...taken to be dropped off at the mouth of a river on the way to Patusan. As their parting approaches, Marlow drops some of the formalities he used to maintain around... (full context)
Chapter 24
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Marlow sees the coast of Patusan for himself two years after he first gets Jim set up there. It is a... (full context)
Fantasy vs. Reality Theme Icon
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Racism and Colonialism Theme Icon
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...be blessed, although they are confused at first by his request to be taken to Patusan, wondering what Rajah Allang would make of this request. They begin the long canoe ride... (full context)
Fantasy vs. Reality Theme Icon
Justice and Duty Theme Icon
Racism and Colonialism Theme Icon
Truth and Perspective  Theme Icon
...first place. Marlow tells Jim that Stein wants to set up a trading post in Patusan. Marlow is proud to see what Jim has accomplished in Patusan, even though the very... (full context)
Chapter 25
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During Marlow’s visit to Patusan, Jim and Marlow go to Rajah Allang’s dirty residence, and Jim tells of how the... (full context)
Fantasy vs. Reality Theme Icon
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...goes to find Jim (who hasn’t gotten far) and asks what Jim is doing in Patusan. He brings Jim a watch and asks Jim if he knows how to fix it.... (full context)
Chapter 27
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Jim’s victory over Sherif Ali became legendary in Patusan. When Marlow visits, people are still telling fantastical stories of how Jim got his cannons... (full context)
Fantasy vs. Reality Theme Icon
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...Itam. Tamb’ Itam is Jim’s Malay servant and a very dark-skinned man from outside of Patusan who escaped Rajah Allang and devoted himself religiously to serving Jim. (full context)
Chapter 28
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During his time at Patusan, Jim also falls in love. Jim meets a woman that he calls Jewel—she is the... (full context)
Chapter 29
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During Marlow’s visit to Patusan, Jim goes on walks with Jewel in the evening and how sometimes when Marlow is... (full context)
Chapter 32
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Jim tells Marlow during Marlow’s visit that he can’t imagine living anywhere other than Patusan—because he still can’t forget when he came there in the first place. Marlow tries to... (full context)
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...of assurance from Marlow, but Marlow isn’t quite sure what kind. She has lived in Patusan her whole life, and this has given her an unusual kind of innocence. She sees... (full context)
Chapter 33
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...that it’s just friendship and business and that he’d prefer for Jim to stay in Patusan. (full context)
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...swim back to Sherif Ali, Jewel urged Jim to leave her and get out of Patusan. But Jim stayed with her. Jewel says to Marlow that her big fear that night... (full context)
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All around, the air in Patusan is silent. At last, Jewel asks why no one outside wants Jim. Marlow is a... (full context)
Chapter 34
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...doesn’t turn back. Marlow begins to feel sentimental as he walks through the solemn nighttime Patusan(full context)
Chapter 35
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The next morning in Patusan, Jim comes with Marlow on the first part of Marlow’s journey back to the outer... (full context)
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...their problems with Rajah Allang. This renews Jim’s belief that he has to stay in Patusan to help people. Jim seems sad about potentially never seeing Marlow again. He begins asking... (full context)
Chapter 36
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...recalls how Jim tried to write him once. Jim signed the letter from “The Fort, Patusan,” suggesting that he had begun to fortify himself against possible attacks. In the letter, Jim... (full context)
Chapter 37
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...Stein’s place, he sees a Malay the he remembers seeing earlier at Jim’s house in Patusan. Jim had pointed out the man and said he was a respectable trader. Marlow goes... (full context)
Chapter 38
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...goal is to take the vessel to Madagascar. Along the way, however, he comes across Patusan somehow and sees the opportunity to stock up on supplies. (full context)
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...sixteen men with Brown, and fourteen of them go with him up the river toward Patusan in a smaller longboat while two stay behind with the schooner. When Brown first arrives... (full context)
Chapter 39
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...to Jim’s story. At the time of Brown’s arrival, Jim is actually away from interior Patusan, and so Dain Waris leads the initial attack on Brown’s crew. Some of the Malays... (full context)
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...man and eventually goes over to talk with Brown about the state of things in Patusan. Brown sees possibilities but demands a show of good faith in the form of food.... (full context)
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...he hears from the Malays. Instead of stealing food, he wants to steal all of Patusan, figuring that if Jim did it alone, he could just as easily do it himself.... (full context)
Chapter 42
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...against Jim. He presents himself to Jim as a victim of fate who came to Patusan not to pillage but to beg. He says Dain Waris attacked before even asking questions.... (full context)
Chapter 43
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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... (full context)
Chapter 44
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...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... (full context)