The Nigger Of The 'Narcissus'

A Tale Of The Forecastle.

(1897)

TO EDWARD GARNETT
THIS TALE
ABOUT MY FRIENDS
OF THE SEA

The Nigger of the Narcissus is a tale about the fall and rescue of mankind through redemption. The inner message lying under the lines and sometimes among the lines is that man must get rid of his powerful irrational unconscious forces before the "voyage has done". The way in which one could do it well is doing their own duty skilfully in silence without listening to emotional chattering of the crew (which symbolizes human nature as a whole). There's a strong contrast between the crew and a single man, courage and weakness, conscious and unconscious, the former can be represented by Singleton the latter by James Wait. Although nobody can state that Conrad wrote a religious and Christian tale, one can say without denial that the plot is woven as a similar one. Conrad reveals his pessimism in conveying that man is condemned to stand alone in his lifetime passage while solidarity is momentous and due to need to overcome dangers ( it is the case of the tempest)--Submitted by Pascal, Italy

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A real masterpiece of mankind's lonesome journey from the outer self to the inner troubled soul, in quest for self redemption; a self doomed to hollowness, solitude, and spleen despite the brave-facing of the somewhat misleading storms of life.--Submitted by Bedis Bedri.

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