“To make you see” is one of Joseph Conrad’s constant concerns in his writings to render the highest kind of truth to the visible world by highlighting its every aspect. In his fourth novel, Lord Jim (1900), he uses the images of animals and the colors to get across his message to the reader. Through this technique, the reader is left to form an impression of the protagonist’s exterior or interior state from which they can attempt to read the protagonist’s real motivation in his/her action. In Lord Jim, a young seaman named Jim, who serves as the chief mate on the Patna, jumps from the ship leaving behind the passengers when he confronts shipwreck. After that he is in search of some atonement in the Patusan where his past remains hidden. This story is described by Conrad’s storyteller named Marlow, who is sympathetic to Jim’s plight but discerns in him an affliction of helplessness as a human being. To show that Jim’s inner world is not easy for Marlow to understand, the images of animals such as butterflies, beetles, curs, turtles, and owls are used to symbolize the negative aspect of Jim’s nature. The colors, in particular, dark and white colors are also used to represent Marlow’s judgement of Jim’s incomprehensible inner world and action on the Patna. Here, however, the difference between black and white or darkness and light is ambiguous and they might be exchangeable in meaning. That is, Jim’s jump from the Patna is a demonstration of some obscure attribute of our nature which is not far under the surface of our mind. Therefore, Conrad reveals in Lord Jim that Jim is one of us who is not only imperfect but also the weaknesses inside that can unexpectedly emerge in an instant by using the symbol technique of the images of animals and colors.
한국중앙영어영문학회 [The Jungang English Language And Literature Association Of Korea]
설립연도
1968
분야
인문학>영어와문학
소개
본 학회는 영미어문학의 학술연구와 이에 부합하는 아래의 사업을 기획 수행하며,
또한 회원 상호간의 친목을 도모함을 목적으로 한다.
1. 학회지 발간
2. 연구 발표회, 강연회, 공동연구
3. 영미어문학 관련 도서출판
4. 영미어문학 관계 도서 및 자료의 모집 및 비치
5. 기타 본회의 목적 달성에 필요한 사업
간행물
간행물명
영어영문학연구 [The Jungang Journal of English Language and Literature]