"Cliff Notes - Lord Jim" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

Jim always appears, metaphorically speaking, in a fog or mist.
Occasionally the mist parts, allowing Marlow (and the reader) a
deeper glimpse into Jim's inner workings. But the mist always
closes again. This image undergoes a metamorphosis in the last
part of the novel, where Jim repeatedly appears "under a cloud."
"Cloud" retains the associations of "mist," suggesting that it's
difficult to see beyond the surface of Jim's actions into his
motives. But the phrase also carries its usual implication of a
damaged reputation. Jim dies "under a cloud" in that he leaves
so many people both in Patusan and in the wider world thinking
that he deserves to be condemned. But the wording also suggests
that those who condemn Jim don't see or understand him clearly.
Surely, for example, Doramin is wrong to think Jim is guilty of
any kind of treachery toward Dain Waris.

Jim is the victim of his own vivid imagination. He tends to
freeze in difficult situations because he's so adept at
picturing the worst possible outcomes. He's also a romantic
idealist--that is, he thinks perfection is really within his
grasp, and so he's doubly hard on himself when he fails to be
perfect. He may not live up to his vision of himself, but he's
no hypocrite, either--he strives to live up to it. He's naive,
even immature, to have so little perspective on his ideals. But
if he's naive he's also admirable. After all, he does manage to
impose his vision of order and justice, at least for a while, on
troubled Patusan.

Jim's naive idealism isn't his only boyish trait. He has a
youthful exuberance that borders on impulsiveness, and doesn't
always serve him well. His response to an insult is either to
blush or to fight. And he occasionally stammers like a
tongue-tied boy. Marlow frequently notes this inarticulate
quality but admits that it doesn't keep Jim from being
"wonderfully expressive." He has a sulky side, which comes to
the fore when he's criticized, combined with a stiff-upper-lip
British pride that makes him want to hide his feelings. Thus,
in Chapter Six he tries to pick a fight after he hears someone
call a dog "that wretched cur" and mistakes the words for an
insult directed at him. But what humiliates him most deeply is
having his wounds exposed: Until then he had faced his loss of
reputation with a public air of indifference that was a long way
from his true feelings.

Jim's judgment may (or may not) be unsound, but he does at least
prove by the end of the novel that he's not afraid of death. He
arrives in Patusan, knowing the danger, with an unloaded gun.
He leads the assault on Sherif Ali at great risk to his own
life. He regularly demonstrates his fearlessness by drinking
the Rajah's coffee, which he has good reason to believe may be
poisoned. And finally he goes to confront Doramin knowing that