Always ‘the Unexpected’: Lord Jim

The chapter on Lord Jim (1900) begins by drawing the reader’s attention to the world view of the homodiegetic narrator Marlow which closely resembles that of Conrad as discussed in the Introduction, and analyzes the idiosyncratic emotionality of the protagonist primarily in terms of the stressful power of emotion. The first part of this chapter is centered around the key concept of ‘the unexpected’ as a sign of impermanence, and argues that Marlow’s interest in Jim is based on his curiosity as to what extent Jim can defy this fact. The second half is centered around another key concept, ‘the sense of insecurity,’ a phrase which reappears in The Mirror of the Sea (1906: 30). The chapter also considers Stein’s frequently-quoted advice to Marlow—‘to the destructive element submit yourself’—and offers a fresh interpretation of that advice in the framework of impermanence and insecurity.