“I know my own mind”.
In those five words, Jim thwarts the attempts made by Marlow, the unknown narrator and the author himself, in a bid to understand and “grasp” Jim. Uttered assuredly by Jim, those words encapsulate the enterprise of reading, interpretation and representation.
The entire novel has Marlow recounting the past to his avid listeners, and in the process of narrating, Marlow embarks on a quest on reading and interpreting Jim for himself, and for others. The frustration for Marlow, (and us), lies having to “read” through a flurry of past actions, events and words, and interpret them, in order to understand Jim and the fascination that Marlow has of him. Jim, when excited, is usually fails to string together a coherent thought or sentences, instead, his actions are more “revealing” to Marlow. Following the opening quote, it is Jim, and only Jim, who can “know” his own mind, for language encounters its limits in this novel. (Note the excessiveness of language and the manner in which Marlow narrates- it is never linear in its progression to the end.)
Conrad, however, complicates things when Jim is shown to doubt himself. The incident of Patna, where he jumps off the ship is one such incident where Jim, doesn’t seem to fully understand his actions and himself. Readers then, are given privy, to a representation of Jim’s psyche as he starts to come to term with his actions; “There was no going back. It was as if I had jumped into a well- into an everlasting deep hole…”
A question then arises- how are we to understand others, if we don’t understand ourselves? It is with this question in mind, that the hypocrisy of the colonial enterprise comes to fore- particularly under its flag of a “civilizing” mission.
(298 words)
In those five words, Jim thwarts the attempts made by Marlow, the unknown narrator and the author himself, in a bid to understand and “grasp” Jim. Uttered assuredly by Jim, those words encapsulate the enterprise of reading, interpretation and representation.
The entire novel has Marlow recounting the past to his avid listeners, and in the process of narrating, Marlow embarks on a quest on reading and interpreting Jim for himself, and for others. The frustration for Marlow, (and us), lies having to “read” through a flurry of past actions, events and words, and interpret them, in order to understand Jim and the fascination that Marlow has of him. Jim, when excited, is usually fails to string together a coherent thought or sentences, instead, his actions are more “revealing” to Marlow. Following the opening quote, it is Jim, and only Jim, who can “know” his own mind, for language encounters its limits in this novel. (Note the excessiveness of language and the manner in which Marlow narrates- it is never linear in its progression to the end.)
Conrad, however, complicates things when Jim is shown to doubt himself. The incident of Patna, where he jumps off the ship is one such incident where Jim, doesn’t seem to fully understand his actions and himself. Readers then, are given privy, to a representation of Jim’s psyche as he starts to come to term with his actions; “There was no going back. It was as if I had jumped into a well- into an everlasting deep hole…”
A question then arises- how are we to understand others, if we don’t understand ourselves? It is with this question in mind, that the hypocrisy of the colonial enterprise comes to fore- particularly under its flag of a “civilizing” mission.
(298 words)
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