Lord Jim

The morning after Marlow’s dinner with Jim at the hotel, he goes back to his own ship to check on his mate, who is generally good at his job but gets jealous at the slightest sign of potential infidelity from his wife. Jim, however, is unmarried, and Marlow turns back to thinking about him. He heads to court to witness the proceedings again, even though he doesn’t expect to be impressed or learn anything.

Marlow imagines what Jim’s punishment might be and imagines that he might be executed. The people involved in the assault case happening at same time are at court, too. Marlow feels that Jim’s inquiry is so cold that it might lead to a fate worse than death.

In the inquiry, the court begins to give its judgment. They rule that the Patna wasn’t seaworthy for the voyage, and then they surprise Marlow by saying that up until the ship’s mysterious accident, it had been navigated with proper consideration. Finally, they conclude that because the skipper, the two engineers, and Jim abandoned their duty while at sea, they all have their certifications stripped away from them. Marlow tries to talk to Jim afterward, but Jim avoids him.

A deep-voiced West Australian man named Chester approaches Marlow after the trial. He says it looks like Jim is taking the judgment hard. Chester says this is a bad idea, and it’s better for a man to grow thick skin. Chester is trying to purchase a steamer because he has supposedly discovered a guano island that is dangerous to approach but potentially a goldmine. Marlow is offended that Chester wants him to be part of this scheme, but Chester replies that he doesn’t want Marlow. He has, however, heard that Marlow recently had dinner with Jim.

Chester wants Jim to oversee his guano island, where he will “dump” forty Asian workers for Jim to manage. Marlow imagines Jim standing up to his knees in guano with birds squawking around him. He tells Chester he wouldn’t offer that job to his worst enemy. Chester pleads, but Marlow refuses to help him. Chester sulks, saying he was only trying to do Jim a favor, and he and Marlow part on bad terms.