# XXXVIII explained — Lord Jim > Chapter companion for Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad. ## What happens Marlow introduces Gentleman Brown, a notorious buccaneer whose desperate and violent history leads him to Patusan. Brown's crew steals a schooner, endures a harrowing passage, and finally forces their way up the Patusan river, where they are met with armed resistance from the inhabitants. ## Themes in this chapter ### Colonialism and Otherness Brown's predatory raids on native villages and the description of his crew as 'nondescript spawn of the South Seas' highlight colonial exploitation and racial othering. ### Fate and Free Will Brown is described as a 'blind accomplice of the Dark Powers,' suggesting his actions are part of a larger, inexorable fate that draws him into Jim's story. ## Character check-ins ### Marlow Narrates the backstory of Gentleman Brown and his arrival in Patusan. ### Gentleman Brown A latter-day buccaneer, desperate and ruthless, who steals a schooner and forces his way into Patusan. ### Doramin Mentioned as the builder of the mosque; his people fire on Brown's boat. ### Jim Brown sails into Jim's history as a blind accomplice of the Dark Powers. ## Key lines > He was the show ruffian on the Australian coast⁠—not that he was often to be seen there, but because he was always trotted out in the stories of lawless life a visitor from home is treated to Brown was a famous outlaw on the Australian coast, more talked about in tales than actually seen. _Establishes Brown's notorious reputation._ > He would kidnap natives, he would strip some lonely white trader to the very pyjamas he stood in, and after he had robbed the poor devil, he would as likely as not invite him to fight a duel with shotguns on the beach Brown would kidnap indigenous people and rob white traders, then often challenge his victims to a duel. _Illustrates Brown's violent and contemptuous nature._ > He was down on his luck⁠—as he told me himself. The world he had bullied for twenty years with fierce, aggressive disdain, had yielded him nothing in the way of material advantage except a small bag of silver dollars Brown admitted he was broke; after two decades of bullying, all he had was a small bag of silver coins. _Shows Brown's desperation and poverty._ > But this man, who would stake his existence on a whim with a bitter and jeering recklessness, stood in mortal fear of imprisonment. Though reckless with his life, Brown was terrified of being locked up. _Highlights Brown's paradoxical fear of captivity._ > Brown's idea was to make for Madagascar, where he expected, on grounds not altogether illusory, to sell the schooner in Tamatave, and no questions asked Brown planned to sail to Madagascar and sell the stolen schooner without attracting official attention. _Reveals Brown's escape plan._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lord_jim_se/chapters/xxxviii - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lord_jim_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lord_jim_se/chapters