The Multinational World of Ships

This chapter considers Robert Lynd’s suggestion that Conrad has found ‘a new patriotism’ of the sea by exploring the composition of crews in the British Merchant Navy and Conrad’s representation of one such crew in the Narcissus. It challenges Lynd’s assertion of the cosmopolitan nature of Conrad’s vision in this work by differentiating cosmopolitanism from multinationalism If Conrad’s experiences in the Merchant Navy introduced him to the temporary multinational communities of merchant ships, these voyages also revealed to him the globalised world that was emerging at the end of the nineteenth century. The chapter ends with a consideration of the composition of the crews in ‘Youth’ and Lord Jim.