Lord Jim, Chapter 9 summary
Chapter 9 of 45 · 14 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 9, Jim tells his listener how he watches the officers struggle with a boat while a squall approaches, then jumps into it himself. His account moves from disgust at their panic to shame at abandoning eight hundred people, although he cannot explain the moment when he decides to move.
What happens
- As a black squall approaches, Jim cuts the lifeboats free but refuses to help the others launch their boat.
- The little engineer brings a hammer, and the men release the boat before repeatedly frustrating their own efforts to launch it.
- Jim feels the ship move and sees the donkeyman collapse beside the engine-room skylight.
- The others lower their boat, while Jim starts moving and stumbles over the fallen man's legs.
- The men shout for George to jump as wind and rain strike, and Jim jumps into their boat.
- Jim describes seeing the ship above him and feeling trapped by his own desertion.
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In this chapter
What to notice
The number makes the human cost of abandoning the ship explicit. Jim contrasts those living people with the dead man whom the escaping men urge to jump.
Quick check
What does Jim remember seeing last while still aboard the ship?
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