# Chapter II explained — A Personal Record

> Chapter companion for A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad.

## What happens

The narrator reflects on family history, including the death of a beloved aunt and the character of his mother, and recounts his granduncle Nicholas B.'s infamous meal of a Lithuanian dog. He then explores themes of fidelity, illusion, and self-indulgence, comparing his own seafaring vocation to Don Quixote's chivalric quest. The chapter concludes with a memory of his tutor's warning on the Furca Pass and the tutor's later life as a beloved doctor.

## Themes in this chapter

### Memory and Nostalgia

The narrator dwells on the deaths of his aunt and mother, and recalls his granduncle's legendary meal.

### Family Heritage and Obligation

Discusses the moral legacy of his mother and the patriotic sacrifices of his uncle.

### The Spectacle of Existence

Compares his own seafaring life to Don Quixote's illusions, questioning the nature of fidelity and self-indulgence.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

Reflects on family losses, his own youthful vocation, and the influence of his tutor.

### Nicholas B.

Granduncle who ate a Lithuanian dog on active service; his deed is recalled with childish horror.

### Joseph Conrad

Implied as the narrator; mentions his own diet of 'la vache enragée' and his life at sea.

## Key lines

> I know the taste of shark, of trepang, of snake, of nondescript dishes containing things without a name—but of the Lithuanian village dog never!

I have eaten many strange foods, but never a Lithuanian dog.

_Narrator distinguishes his own diet from his granduncle's._

> He had eaten him to appease his hunger, no doubt, but also for the sake of an unappeasable and patriotic desire, in the glow of a great faith that lives still, and in the pursuit of a great illusion kindled like a false beacon by a great man to lead astray the effort of a brave nation.

He ate the dog not only from hunger but also out of patriotic fervor, following a grand illusion inspired by Napoleon.

_Justifies granduncle's act as part of national struggle._

> You are an incorrigible, hopeless Don Quixote. That’s what you are.

You are an incurable dreamer, like Don Quixote.

_Tutor's rebuke to the young narrator about his sea vocation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_personal_record_se/chapters/ii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_personal_record_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_personal_record_se/chapters