"Lord Jim" is a novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1900.
Jim is chief mate on the steamship Patna. He is a young British seaman whose surname has never been disclosed. Patna is full of pilgrims traveling to Mecca for the hajj. During a voyage towards Mecca with a cargo of pilgrims the ship strikes a submerged object. Watching the small crew lowering a lifeboat to save themselves, at first Jim appears to be an idealistic looker but then, impulsively, in a momentary lapse of judgment, he jumps, joining his captain and other crew members, in abandoning the ship and its passengers. This action of Jim is the focus of this novel.
A few days
later, a British ship picks them up. Ironically, the Patna had not sunk and its passengers are later also saved, but the actions of the crew are exposed. The other miscreants evade justice, leaving Jim to face a
court of inquiry alone. Jim is angry for his moment of weakness. For his abandonment of duty, the court strips Jim of his certificate of navigation command.
At the court of inquiry,
Marlow, a sea captain, observes Jim with interest. Marlow befriends Jim who in spite of his initial misgivings over what he sees as Jim's moral unsoundness, thinks he is okay and feels his private remorse. Marlow later finds Jim a work as a ship chandler's clerk. Jim tries to remain incognito, but whenever the Patna incident catches up with him, he abandons his place and moves further away.
Marlow's friend, Stein, suggests placing Jim as his factor in Patusan, a remote inland settlement with a mixed Malay and Bugis population. This way Jim's past can remain hidden and he can heal himself psychologically. Here in Patusan, Jim has an active and practical life. He wins the respect of the people and becomes their leader by relieving them from the the bandit Sheriff Ali. He also protects them from the corrupt local Malay chief, Rajah Tunku Allang. To the people and
Doramin, the leader of the Bugis
community and elderly chief of the community, Jim becomes "Tuan" or Lord Jim.
Jim meets Jewel, a woman of mixed race, and step-daughter of a corrupt predecessor. Eventually he wins her love. A few years later, the serenity of the community is once again disrupted when the town is attacked by the marauder Gentleman Brown and his fellow thieves. Jim assures Doramin that Brown will leave the island without bloodshed. Unfortunately, it's not meant to be and he proved horribly wrong. Although Brown and his gang are driven off, Dain Waris, the son of the elderly chief, Doramin, is killed, as a result of Jim's misplaced trust. Jim continues the conflict and ultimately fulfills his heroic destiny by taking responsibility of his action as he allows to be shot by the grieving and angry Doramin. He suffers a fatal bullet in the heart, fired by Doramin as savage retribution for the death of his son.