# VII explained — The Nature of a Crime

> Chapter companion for The Nature of a Crime by Joseph Conrad.

## What happens

The narrator reflects on his final night, having resolved to commit suicide. He details his efforts to cure Robert of his chloral addiction by gradually diluting the drug and appealing to his pride, and he explains his decision to leave his fortune to Edward Burden as a final act of cruelty, exposing the hypocrisy of respectability. He prepares to register the parcel of letters as his last act.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suicide and Death

The narrator's resolve to end his life and his preparation for death dominate the chapter.

### Deception and Trust

The narrator deceives Robert about the chloral dilution and plans to deceive Edward Burden through the fraudulent estate.

### Class and Respectability

The narrator critiques the 'eternal Haves' and the hypocrisy of respectable society.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

Resolved to commit suicide; reflects on his legacy and final actions.

### Edward Burden

Beneficiary of the narrator's will; unknowingly inherits a fraudulent estate.

### Robert

Being gradually weaned off chloral; shows signs of recovery.

### Miss Averies

The intended recipient of the letters; the narrator's beloved.

## Key lines

> I have found him a good round sum upon mortgage—the irony of the position being that the money is actually his whilst the mortgage does not actually exist.

I've given him a large sum of money under the pretense of a mortgage, but the mortgage is fake, and the money is actually his own.

_The narrator reveals the fraudulent nature of the financial arrangement with Edward Burden._

> For biting through the glass in the ring will be not an action, but the commencement of a new train of thought.

Breaking the glass in the ring to take poison will not be a simple act, but the start of a new way of thinking.

_The narrator contemplates the philosophical implications of his suicide._

> I have been doing two things. In the first place I have persuaded your chemists to reduce very gradually the strength of chloral, so that the bottles contain nearly half water.

I've arranged for the chemists to slowly dilute Robert's chloral so that the bottles are now almost half water.

_The narrator explains his method for weaning Robert off the drug._

> He will have to have my estate set down at a high figure; he will have to be congratulated on his fortunate inheritance, and he will have, sedulously, to compound my felony.

He'll have to inflate the value of my estate, accept congratulations, and carefully cover up my crime.

_The narrator describes the trap he sets for Edward Burden, forcing him to be complicit in the fraud._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/vii
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- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters