Lord Jim · Chapter
XXI explained
Marlow describes Jim's new life in Patusan, a remote and almost mythical settlement.
What happens
Marlow describes Jim's new life in Patusan, a remote and almost mythical settlement. He explains how Stein arranged for Jim to go there, replacing Cornelius as the trading post manager. Marlow reflects on Jim's romantic nature and his own fears for Jim's future, emphasizing Jim's deep connection to the land and his inability to return home.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Belonging
Jim is isolated from his past and home, yet finds a new belonging in Patusan, rooted to the land.
Romantic Idealism vs. Reality
Jim's romantic nature is contrasted with the harsh realities of his situation and Marlow's pragmatic fears.
Judgment and Redemption
Jim's past failure and the possibility of redemption through his new role in Patusan are central to Marlow's reflections.
Characters to notice
- Jim
Marlow reflects on Jim's romantic and imaginative nature, his deep feeling for the land, and his inability to return home.
- Marlow
Marlow narrates, expressing his personal concerns for Jim and his own impending return home.
- Stein
Stein arranges Jim's placement in Patusan, having knowledge of the place and its former manager Cornelius.
- Cornelius
Cornelius is the Portuguese manager being replaced by Jim; Stein describes him as unsatisfactory and ill-used.
- Brierly
Marlow quotes Brierly's remark about Jim: 'Let him creep twenty feet underground and stay there.'
Key passages
“you must touch your reward with clean hands, lest it turn to dead leaves, to thorns, in your grasp.”
One must earn their reward honestly, or it will become worthless and painful.
Marlow's reflection on the necessity of integrity.
“Each blade of grass has its spot on earth whence it draws its life, its strength; and so is man rooted to the land from which he draws his faith together with his life.”
Just as every blade of grass is rooted in its own patch of earth, so is a person rooted to the land that gives them faith and life.
Marlow's meditation on the connection between people and their homeland.
“He left his earthly failings behind him and that sort of reputation he had, and there was a totally new set of conditions for his imaginative faculty to work upon.”
Jim left his past failures and reputation behind, and faced entirely new circumstances that engaged his imagination.
Marlow describes the transformative effect of Patusan on Jim.