Lord Jim

Lord Jim is a novel by Joseph Conrad. An early and primary event is the abandonment of a ship in distress by its crew including the young British seaman Jim.

He is publicly censured for this action and the novel follows his later attempts at coming to terms with his past.

Jim, a young British seaman, becomes first mate on the Patna, a ship full of pilgrims travelling to Mecca for the hajj.

Jim joins his captain and other crew members in abandoning the ship and its passengers.

A few days later, they are picked up by a British ship.

However, the Patna and its passengers are later also saved, and the reprehensible actions of the crew are exposed.

The court strips him of his navigation command certificate for his dereliction of duty.

Jim is angry with himself, both for his moment of weakness, and for missing an opportunity to be a 'hero'.

In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Lord Jim #85 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.