Other times, flat calm, great mirror of my despairSay no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay-C. BaudelaireThose familiar with the works of Joseph Conrad know well that the author had a great affinity for the sea. This was certainly to be expected from a man who had spent his formative years on various ships, crossing the eastern waters as mate and captain. During these years, Conrad formed a relationship with the sea, based in equal parts fear, respect and love, which would transcend his writing and shape his characters. Conrad, of course, learned a lot from the sea, and so did we. , learn a lot of things from him. From the collective themes of his maritime novels, it would seem that Conrad, if he wanted to transmit to his reader a single facet of his nautical knowledge, would want him to appreciate the long and sacrosanct tradition of command, to understand the cult of the sailor. In these works, Conrad paints a collective picture of the true sailor: stoic, strong and serene in the face of peril. As Captain Giles says from The Shadow-Line, an example of the code, "a man must resist his bad luck, his mistakes, his conscience, and all that sort of thing" (The Shadow-Line, 131) . But the true sailor is also afflicted by a profound loneliness. He alone is responsible for the safe passage of his ship; “Such is the solitude of command” (Typhoon, 40). The sailor has a friend and an adversary, the sea, and it is only through the sea, "mirror of his despair", that he can find himself and recognize the honor and the burden of command. Two of Conrad's maritime novels, The Shadow Line and Lord Jim, present us with two characters who adhere variably to the sailor's code. The narrator of The Shadow-Line begins his first command as a headstrong and immature novice, but through the introspection demanded by difficult times, he comes to appreciate his role as captain and embrace the proud tradition of command. The titular protagonist of Lord Jim, unlike the aforementioned young Captain, is unable to stand up to his mistakes, as Captain Giles very sincerely prescribes. Jim uses the sea not as a mirror for his own reflection, but rather as a vehicle for his own promotion. As such, he cannot take his place in the pantheon of the sailor. A study of MacWhirr is a fitting complement to any assessment of The Shadow-Line's narrator and Jim because, unlike the others, he immediately establishes himself as a true sailor. So we have three remarkably different characters dealing with their mistakes to varying degrees; The young captain of the Shadow-Line matures considerably during his ordeal and, more subtly, Captain Mac Whirr recognizes a fatally wrong decision, while Jim flees a reflection he does not want to face. Conrad alludes, in The Shadow-Line, to the mirror of the sea. It is in this mirror that the narrator of the story can discover his own flaws and recognize the magnitude of his position as captain. The narrator begins his story by abandoning his position as mate on a comfortable steamboat in an action that “had the character of a divorce – almost of a desertion” (The Shadow-Line, 4). His resignation, his abandonment, comes after realizing that his youth is declining aboard a ship on which he describes his time as a "dreary and prosaic day" from which "there was no truth to be drawn" ( La Ligne of Shadow, 7). The “truth” sought by the narrator can only be found within himself and only through self-reflection. He is lucky to be able to think like this on board a shipunfortunate, his first commandment. The young captain sets out on his journey with the same boldness that led him to abandon his old ship. Without yet proving himself, he believes himself to be a somehow superior individual, already an esteemed member of the community of the sea. In his immaturity, he does not understand the futility of approaching and threatening the steward and is incredulous when the esteemed Captain Giles tries to comfort the shaken man. Walking with Giles to the port where he will embark to meet his ship, the new captain deliberately quickens his pace in an attempt to "get ahead of" the older man, a vain attempt at dominance that befits the irreverent and selfish nature of the older man. 'man. narrator at the beginning of the story. It is this audacity that discolors the narrator's character as he carries out his first command. The young captain is too sure of himself: “You are a sailor or you are not,” he remarks, “And I had no doubt that I was” (The Shadow Line, 44). Here the captain assumes a title he has not yet earned through necessary reflection or tribulation. The fact that he has “no doubt” that he is a sailor in no way implies that he is one. Indeed, the self-confidence that the narrator feels about his position and his place in the cult of command has nothing to do with any viable experience but simply with the simple thrill of his appointment: A sudden passion for Anxious impatience rushed through my veins and gave me such a sensation of the intensity of existence as I have never felt before or since. I discovered how much of a sailor I was in heart, in mind and, so to speak, physically - a man exclusively of sea and ships; the sea was the only world that mattered, and ships the test of manhood, temperament, courage and fidelity – and love (The Shadow-Line, 40). This coming from a man who had, a few days earlier, deserted his ship and the sea itself. The captain certainly quickly reconciles with the sea. Moreover, he comes to trust it with such naive esteem that, knowing what awaits him, one cannot help but feel sorry for him. Hoping to escape the disease and heat of the Asian coasts with all possible haste, the narrator identifies the sea as the "only cure for all [his] troubles" (71). On the surface, this assumption couldn't be further from the truth. The sea and the lack of winds bring no help to this captain who had made fun of the steam and had kissed the mast. If the sea does not cause the onset of fever on board the ship, it nevertheless intensifies it. After the narrator discovers that the prescribed fever antidote, quinine, has been emptied from its vials by the ship's infamous late captain, the voyage becomes a race with death, and the sea does little to speed up life. The captain's discovery that the antidote is not available to the ship's crew is the pivotal moment in the story. It was at this moment that he first realized the magnitude and loneliness of his position as captain. He alone is responsible for the health of all his men and he alone will be blamed for the mismanagement of this responsibility. The guilt he feels for not having checked the medicine supply before departure is only reinforced by the stubbornness of the sea. The lack of wind makes the passage painfully slow and emotionally taxing for the narrator. The sea, even if it is not responsible for the appearance of the fever, is totally merciless. It isolates the narrator as captain and forces him to take responsibility for everything that has happened on the voyage thus far and everything that must be done to get the ship out of its current situation. By isolating the narrator in his guilt,the sea acts as the “mirror of his despair”. He is forced to think about his situation and face reality: he must face his own dilemmas, mistakes and bad luck. I became aware of what I had already left behind: my youth. And it was indeed a poor comfort. Youth is a beautiful thing, a great power – as long as you don't think about it. I felt like I was becoming embarrassed (The Shadow Line, 55). Having to bear the burden of command alone, the captain is obliged to mature through reflection on his condition and his awareness of what he must do to improve it. And, after several days and nights on deck without sleep and with only the constant company of the sick cook, Ransome, himself an accomplished sailor, the captain manages to guide the ship to shore, without losing any men and gaining a whole new sense of dignity and pride. After crossing his own shadow line, the captain finally proves himself worthy of joining the ranks of the community of the sea. In many ways, the narrator of The Shadow-Line and Jim are quite similar. Both are vain and stubborn, both hold the position of second in command at one time or another, and both face devastating and trying situations. Unlike the former, however, Jim is unable to achieve the conscious state of introspection necessary to overcome his trials and take his place among the great sailors who came before him. Considering the length and depth of Lord Jim, its protagonist, Jim, is not a very complicated character. Indeed, you don't have to look much beyond the first four chapters to find the strongest explanation of who Jim is. It is in these preliminary chapters that an omniscient narrator tells the story of Jim, a young dreamer who, at a very young age, leaves his father's "abode of piety and peace" to pursue a life at sea. Jim's character flaw is revealed during his stay on the "training ship for merchant marine officers" where he worked "with the contempt of a man destined to shine in the midst of dangers" (Lord Jim, 9). This is a flaw that will affect his character throughout the book. Jim is a dreamer in the negative sense of the word. His fantasies are romantic and not idealistic. His dreams, in which he "saw himself rescuing people from sinking ships, cutting down masts in a hurricane – always an example of devotion to duty and as steadfast as a hero in a book", are the dreams of an egoist and not an idealist. (Lord Jim, 9). Jim's only true ideal is his own promotion in the eyes of himself and others. The gap between this ideal and that of the true sailor means that Jim will remain outside the great maritime tradition, “one of us” but not one of them. Throughout the novel, Jim reveals himself, through his actions, to be unworthy. of the title of sailor. His daydreams, while focused on his own advancement, are no less harmless, but his actions, in some cases quite harmful, reveal the most about his true character. If actions speak louder than words, they certainly resonate far above thoughts, and from the start there is a disturbing inconsistency between Jim's daydreams and his actions. Young Jim is awakened from his dreams of putting down mutinies and confronting the savages with a cry for help. Here, he has the chance to realize his dreams and yet he is reluctant. Hesitating for fear of a storm, Jim misses his first chance to be a hero. He is not true to himself, but more importantly, he is not true to the sailor's code of conduct. This hesitation to act heroically, however, is far from Jim's most damning sin. Rather, this sin stems from his almost unconscious decision to abandon the damaged Patna, a ship whose attraction to Jimwas based largely on the fact that it would benefit from "short passages, good deckchairs, numerous native crews and distinction". to be white” (Lord Jim, 13 years old). Upon learning that the ship has been punctured and that the sea is rushing into it at an alarming rate, Jim panics. His lack of serenity required of a sailor is demonstrated when he strikes a pilgrim who, unaware of the fate of the ship, asks him for water. This panic, of course, is overshadowed by a more immediate desire for survival that drives him to jump overboard in a desperate and fateful attempt to save his own life. Although the decision to jump is not entirely conscious for Jim, it is a choice that no true sailor would ever make. One of the fundamental principles of the seaman's code is that no officer should ever, under any circumstances, abandon ship. Jim not only abandoned ship; he left 800 innocent and unsuspecting pilgrims for dead. Simply abandoning ship is enough to exclude Jim from the ranks of the true sailor. However, Jim's reaction afterwards is even more embarrassing than the desertion. As the other officers who jumped with him rationalize their plan of action, Jim frowns, but he too engages in rationalization. He too makes excuses for his actions, blaming others, even though he insists that is not the case. Explaining the circumstances to Marlow, Jim insists, "-it was too much for any man. It was their doing as clearly as if they had reached with a gaff and arrested me" (Lord Jim, 77 years). Sure, he's remorseful, but Jim's guilt is not toward the Pilgrims but toward himself. He is ashamed of his action, not because it was immoral or against the code, but because he once again failed to be a hero. This is why Jim desperately wants the ship to finally sink. He is at first horrified that the ship has not yet submerged. "I said to myself: 'Sink, I curse you! Sink!' - It terrified me to see him still there" (Lord Jim, 63.70). When he is finally sure that the boat has indeed sunk, he is overcome by a sense of relief that his 800 possible accusers are dead. In the end, knowing that the ship did not sink, the most telling remark Jim makes about the ordeal is his lament: "Ah! what a missed chance! My God! what a missed chance!" (Lord Jim, 53). Indeed, Jim missed his chance, not for self-promotion, but for self-reflection. He, like the narrator of The Shadow-Line, is faced with a serious situation. Unlike the narrator, Jim is unable to use the sea to reflect on his situation and act according to the code of command he is supposed to embody. Jim's flights of fancy hold little water if they are not supported by precise action. Here, Jim finds himself facing one last chance to prove himself worthy of his own dreams. He fails. One would be tempted to argue that another man, perhaps the young captain of the Shadow-Line, most certainly Singleton of the Nègre of the Narcisse or Captain Mac Whirr of the Typhoon, would have recognized the waters below him as his companion and his adversary and, within these, waters, would have recognized himself as a sailor and would have remained with his ship and its cargo. These men are worthy of the great dynastic tradition of seamanship; Jim is not. Additionally, Jim doesn't fully agree with Captain Giles' definition of maturity. At no time does he “resist his bad luck, his errors, his conscience” (The Shadow-Line, 132). Yes, he is tried and convicted by the magistrate, but after that point Jim develops a habit of constantly running away from his past. "When the fact broke out incognito, he abruptly left the seaport where he was.