Lord Jim

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

5658

Title

Lord Jim

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

A gripping tale of honor and redemption, *Lord Jim* follows a young seaman haunted by a moment of cowardice. Through a complex narrative of exile, self-imposed penance, and a final stand for his ideals, Conrad explores the depths of conscience, the burden of reputation, and the enduring human struggle to live up to one's own code of conduct.

Summary up to 500 words

Joseph Conrad's *Lord Jim* is a profound exploration of guilt, redemption, and the burden of conscience, narrated by the reflective Marlow. The story begins with Jim, a promising officer on a training ship, who fails to jump into the sea to save a drowning boy during a storm. Consumed by an overwhelming sense of shame, he abandons his naval career, becoming a ship-chandler and traveling the world in exile. He eventually finds refuge in the Malay archipelago, where he establishes himself in the village of Patusan. There, he earns the trust of the community, protects the locals from pirates, and forms a deep bond with a local woman named Jewel, becoming a revered figure known as 'Tuan Jim.' However, Jim's past inevitably catches up with him. The very boy he failed to save, now grown into a pirate leader, attacks Patusan. Although Jim is innocent of complicity, the community, driven by fear and his history, turns against him. The tragedy deepens when Jim's friend and lover, Dain Waris, is killed by Doramin, the village elder, in a fit of rage over the attack. Facing the judgment of the people he once led and unable to reconcile his failure with his new life, Jim chooses to leave Patusan. He departs into the jungle, leaving Jewel behind, seeking a final, solitary confrontation with his conscience. The novel concludes with Jim's death, leaving his fate and the nature of his redemption open to interpretation, encapsulated by the enduring image of him passing 'under a cloud.' Through this narrative, Conrad examines the intense pressure of honor and the complex human struggle to atone for perceived moral failures.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

Download URL

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5658.epub.noimages

Local file path

data/epubs/pg5658.epub

Removed after upload

Downloaded at

2026-07-06 06:31 UTC

Categories

• Adventure
• Psychology
• Classics