Is Jim a Man without any Ideal or Action in his Life?

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Introduction

      Jim is neither a man without any ideal nor without action. In fact, it is hard to find a man completely devoid of ideal or action in life. If one wants to survive in this world, he has to do something, and in this course, at certain moments, he has to distinguish between good and evil, true and false, right and wrong. A man must have some ideal also in his life. Man without any ideal can be compared to a rudderless ship at the mercy of supernatural powers; he can not succeed in any field of life-material or spiritual.

Lord Jim, a Man of Action and Romantic Temperament

      Jim is a trained sailor, he is so skillful and efficient in his work that he is given the post of chief Mate on the ship, 'Patna'. Thus we can not say that Jim is like a rudderless boat. Indeed, unfortunately, he himself has made his life miserable by certain mistakes which others succeeded to escape through their practical approach to life. At Patusan, Jim came out as a man of noble action because he greatly served the people of Patusan, won their trust, love and respect. They started regarding him has been blessed with supernatural powers. All this happened on account of his heroic achievements and self sacrificing this spirit. He won a battle against one of the three chiefs of Patusan, Sherif Ali.

      When Jim arrived at Patusan, he was put to several trials and hardships and he successfully overcame every barrier. For a few days, he was imprisoned by the men of Rajah Allang but, by his physical energy and discretion, he succeeded in escaping from there and reached Doramin whom he was sent to. It proves that he was a man of action also in spite of being romantic, sensitive and imaginative. In this regard, Dr. N. Dasgupta has made a considerable remark: "Jim’s jump from the Patna is an act of betrayal; he is conscious of it after his betrayal. It is impossible for him to forget this jump. In Patusan, he regains his peace of mind and his mental balance by accepting and fulfilling a social commitment. But, with the coming of Brown, his part is again revived; he fails to act against Brown because he feels that they are bound by "a common guilt" Jim committed a blunder of reposing trust into a ruffian like Brown. He, later on, has to sacrifice his own life to cope with this horrible mistake. Why did Jim suffer? He suffered because he failed to forget his sordid past (that incident of 'Patna'), and allowed to be chased by the feeling of guilt, 'disgrace and humiliation during his best period of life in Patusan when he moved "into the trust, the love, confidence of the people." "Conrad, through Lord Jim, appears to suggest that our hopes lie only in the realization of our commitment to society, in the understanding of the necessity of human community and in developing a sense of human solidarity.

      The next question: Is it bad to be too romantic and imaginative without being a man of action, or is it equally bad to be without any imagination and ideal in life? If a man is purely imaginative, he will never put his dream into action but build castles in the air. Thus, this kind of characteristic leads to inactivity and no achievement. If a man is devoid of any ideal, he will become just like a machine or lifeless tool without any power of thinking, or that of taking initiative towards the fulfillment of one's commitment to oneself or that to the society, at large. But with the coming of Brown, his part is again revived; He fails to act against Brown because he feels that they are bound by "a common guilt." Jim committed a blunder of reposing trust into a ruffian like Brown. He, later on, has to pay his own life to cope with this horrible mistake. Why did Jim suffer? He suffered because he failed to forget his sordid past (that incident of 'Patna'), and allowed to be chased by the feeling of guilt, disgrace and humiliation. His best period of life was the period of three years in Patusan when he moved "into the trust, the love, confidence of the people." "Conrad, through Lord Jim, appears to suggest that our hopes lie only in the realization of our commitment to society, in the understanding of the necessity of human community and in developing the sense of human solidarity."

      The next question: Is it bad to be too romantic without being a man of action, or it is equally bad to be without any imagination? The answer is, it is equally bad to be too imaginative without being a man of action or without any ideal in life. If a man is purely imaginative, he will never put his dream into action but build castles in the air. Thus, this kind of characteristic leads to inactivity and no achievement. If a man is devoid of any ideal, he will become just like a machine or lifeless tool without any power of thinking, or that of taking any initiative to steer himself towards the fulfillment of his goal and thus, achieve freedom.

Comments

      But Jim is not an automan. He is a man of action as well as that of romantic temperament. The cause of his tragedy is not due to either lack of imagination or action. Such tragedy is not something exceptional. It happens to everybody, great or small-but does not go throughout the life of a man it happens with Jim.

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