Joseph Conrad - Victory

William Collins

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This eBook published by William Collins in 2015

Life & Times section © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

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Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from

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Source ISBN: 9780008110482

Ebook Edition © January 2015 ISBN: 9780008110499

Version: 2014-12-18

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Joseph Conrad had a highly imaginative and creative mind, given to bouts of emotional distress and apathy, but also incredibly driven by his desire for self-expression. Throughout his life his mood would swing back and forth from elation to depression and it has been said that in his darkest moments he contemplated suicide and even attempted it on one occasion, by shooting himself in the chest, although he made a full recovery. On the other hand, his lucid periods resulted in English prose of the first order and an ability to befriend and entertain those around him. With our modern knowledge of the interior psyche, it seems reasonable to conclude that Joseph Conrad may have displayed classic symptoms of bipolar disorder, or what used to be described as ‘manic depression’.

Conrad had a less than desirable childhood, which may account for his psychological profile. He was born into Polish nobility in a region that is now part of Ukraine. Despite this promising start his father was arrested for political activism and exiled to the Russian town of Vologda, northeast of Moscow. One thing led to another and Conrad – at that time named Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski – found himself orphaned at the tender age of 11. He spent the next five years in the charge of his uncle, but left home at 16. His first port of call, quite literally, was Marseille, France, where he enlisted into the French merchant navy and his seagoing adventures began. Conrad spent a 20-year period at sea and his experiences provided the foundation for his literary career. His travels took him to South America, Africa and Asia and he eventually married and settled in England, by now fluent in English and choosing to write in that language, making his prosaic achievements all the more remarkable. At this time he also anglicised his name to Joseph Conrad.

Although Conrad set his stories in exotic places and spun a good yarn, his primary agenda was to use his fiction as a vehicle for investigating human nature – specifically the human condition. Having lost both of his parents, experienced unrequited love and witnessed hardship and cruelty on his journeys, he was perplexed by his own species. He saw that the world is unfair and that people can possess complex ideas and behaviours that can, by turns, make the world a wonderful place or a living hell. He wanted to express his feelings about such contradictions in his books. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his sombre and sobering words were not well received by the novelbuying public and commercial success was not forthcoming. He was, however, praised by literary critics who saw the genius in his intentions and recognised that a lighter touch would be inappropriate. As a result he developed a kind of cult following with those ‘in the know’ – especially fellow writers, who admired his uncompromising and deeply moralistic style.

In Lord Jim (1900) Conrad investigated selfishness, cowardice and dishonour. The eponymous Jim is a member of the crew of a ship who commit the shameful crime of abandoning a boat and its passengers, rather than remaining onboard as ethical law would have expected of them. He finds himself professionally castigated for his misconduct and has to move on from one job to the next whenever his ignominy is discovered. Eventually he finds employment in a place where his past does not catch up with him, so his opprobrium ends, except that he is perpetually troubled by his own conscience. In his new environment he makes an impression and becomes known as ‘Lord Jim’, such is the respect and adoration he receives from the locals. However, events unfold that lead to the killing of the son of a tribal leader. Haunted by his past shame, Jim decides to take the blame and is executed as retribution. Thus, he goes to the grave at peace with himself.