aPriL does feral sometimes 's review of Lord Jim (original) (raw)

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aPriL does feral sometimes 's Reviews > Lord Jim

Lord Jim
by

I don't know why but ‘Lord Jim’ by Joseph Conrad somehow echoes Star Wars. Same mythic quality, same romantic dreaming of quest hopefulness and testing of one's mettle until something really bad happens and naive inexperience gives way to heartrending reality. But Star Wars goes on to space opera where ‘Lord Jim’ is more of a singular man's destiny.

Star Wars does not possess any moral uncertainties, but Lord Jim accurately reflects the real-life play of moral decisions made on the fly that destroy or uplift a person in the eyes of society after the fact. Lord Jim cannot be a hero or villain in his own eyes until society makes the call, yet Jim has a peculiar internal moral guide that is a more difficult master to satisfy. A terrifying lack of self-forgiveness sets Jim on a unique adventure of finding redemption on a literal clean slate, a reinvented do-over that completely wipes out the previous universe where he so totally messed up. It's as if the clean cut, upright handsome blond appearance of a 21-year old Jim forced him to be driven not only to clear himself with the world but it had to be an epic toxic cleansing of soul scrubbing.

The usual fear of death in all human beings is underlying Jim's destiny yet never overt. Conrad mentions again and again how much Jim's physical appearance affects how people see his behavior. His youth is very important to the story yet like death only hinted at periodically as a logical excuse for him which no one allows him especially himself.

The act of defining oneself within the imposed standards and limits of society, any society in the world, is a tough business and deadly serious if one is a friendless outsider. The soundness of a man can be the key to it all. At least that seems to be main of the interesting themes Conrad explores in Lord Jim.

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Reading Progress

January 15, 2011 – Shelved

January 15, 2011 –Finished Reading

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