“One of Us” in Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim: Fact or Myth?

This paper attempts to analyse the term  ̳one of us‘ in Joseph Conrad‘s Lord Jim from a range of viewpoints. Marlow consistently regards Jim as  ̳one of us‘ and many hidden meanings tag along. We have to ponder over the fact that what Marlow‘s actual intention is especially when he utters those three words. Consequently, the phrase,  ̳one of us‘ has turned into a tricky puzzle before us. Let us find out what is concealed behind these words. However, it goes without saying that this paper will concentrate especially on racism, behaviour, optimism, honour, sympathy, shameful secrets, homosexuality, trustworthiness, manliness and courage and universality in order to detect the factual meanings of the term in question. KeywordsCourag; Honour; One of Us; Optimistic; Racism; Shame; Sympathy; Trust; Universality


INTRODUCTION
In Joseph Conrad"s Lord Jim, "Marlow is unequivocal in affirming his own status as "one of us"" (Teng, 2000, p. 198) [12] and he also aptly refers to Jim as "one of us" (Conrad, 1986, p. 74) [5]. Marlow thinks about the young man in such a way even before he hardly knows him. Marlow likes Jim a lot because of his appearance, manner etc. As Marlow utters, "I liked his appearance; I know his appearance; he came from the right place; he was one of us" (Conrad, 1986, p. 74) [5]. Obviously, "one social and also emotional bonding is drawn between them" (Moosavinia & Alami, n.d., p. 98) [8]. After Marlow has begun to know Jim more, his belief that Jim is "one of us" becomes firmer. However, the very term deserves critical analysis from the perspectives of racism, behaviour, honour, sympathy, shameful secrets, homosexuality and trust worthiness, courage and optimism and universality. At the same time, it must be said that "in Marlow"s unrelenting attempt to see Jim whole, to account for both his fine aspirations and his cowardice, to judge him fairly, readers recognize their own difficulty in assessing characters in the twentieth century" (Al-Haj, 2014, p. 214) [1]. Hence, nothing can be as proper as summing up this paper"s focal point with Conrad"s effective words in "Author"s Note" to Lord Jim about the portrayal of Jim concerning human commonality i.e. "one of us": My Jim is not a type of wide commonness. But I can safely assure my readers that he is not the product of coldly perverted thinking. He is not a figure of Northern Mists either. One sunny morning in the commonplace surroundings of an Eastern roadstead, I saw his form pass byappealingsignificantunder a cloudperfectly silent. Which is as it should be. It was for me, with all the sympathy of which I was capable, to seek fit words for his meaning. He was -one of us‖. (Conrad, 1986, p. 44) [5]

Jim is a White Man
Marlow is a racist and it becomes transparent when we concentrate on his relationship with Jim. Marlow first sees Jim at the inquiry held because of the fact that the officers of the Patna have deserted the ship. Marlow himself is a white man and an Englishman; he mentions that Jim is "one of us" (Conrad, 1986, p. 74) [5] because he is also a white man and an Englishman. Thus, Marlow uses the phrase "one of us" "to refer to national or racial identity or perhaps even to membership in the merchant service" (Moosavinia & Alami, n.d., p. 97) [8]. Whereas, J. Batchelor (2007) in "Lord Jim at the Frontier" "considers "one of us" as the reminder of one frontier Jim is unable to cross: the racial frontier" (as cited in Moosavinia (Zabel, 1988, p. 69) [15] In other words, as Jim is from a white race like Marlow, therefore the latter feels interested in Jim. In fact, Marlow"s interest in the trial is due to the fact that a white man is being tried especially at a place where Marlow and Jim are both foreigners: In Lord Jim the principal male bond evoked is explicitly a professional code in an idealized form, identified by Marlow when he claims Jim as "one of us". This bond implicates gender and race in that the code is associated exclusively with European males (officers in the merchant marine), an "insignificant multitude" in the "ranks" of which Marlow is "keeping [his] place" while Jim is a "straggler" (Conrad, 1986, p. 289) [5]. This bond is sanctified by moments of male intimacy which transcend professionalism and reach uneasily for the metaphysical: "There was a moment of real and profound intimacy, unexpected and short-lived like a glimpse of some everlasting, of some saving truth" (Conrad, 1986, p. 220) [5]. In Lord Jim racial otherness is less foregrounded than in the early Malay fiction because of the intensity of the focus on Marlow and Jim, though Jim"s relationship with Jewel brings it to the fore in the later part of the novel. Implicitly, it is important throughout, as in the exoticizing and aestheticizing description of the pilgrims on the Patna: "in the blurred circles of light thrown down and trembling slightly to the unceasing vibration of the ship appeared a chin upturned, two closed eyelids, a dark hand with silver rings, a meagre limb draped in a torn covering" (Conrad, 1986, p. 56) [5]. Most crucially there is an emphasis on Jim"s literal and symbolic "whiteness". This reaches greatest intensity in Marlow"s two partings with him, each of which sets his whiteness against a contrasting racial other, creating overtones of imagined racial purity. (Roberts, 2000, p. 58) [10] However, Jim loses the opportunity to appear as an "everyman" before us in a certain place in the novel. The phrase "one of us" would not be applied for a non-British male. It becomes more apparent in Marlow"s contrast between white Jim and indigenous Dain Waris where he portrays the latter, "beloved, trusted and admired as he was, he was still one of them, while Jim was one of us" (Conrad, 1986, p

Jim is a Sailor, Middle-class Gentleman and Well-behaved
Marlow himself belongs to a special group i.e. a community of gentlemen sailors. However, in order to be a member of that club, a person has to be a sailor, gentleman and well-mannered. When Marlow states that Jim is "one of us", he indicates that Jim has all the qualities to be so.

As Marlow utters:
He was of the right sort; he was one of us. He talked soberly, with a sort of composed unreserve, and with a quiet bearing that might have been the outcome of manly self-control, of impudence, of callousness, of a colossal unconsciousness, of a gigantic deception. Who can tell? (Conrad, 1986, p. 100) [5]

Jim is Optimistic
Jim"s optimism becomes obvious as he does not commit suicide like Brierly rather he wants to start life in a new way to prove himself. "Indeed, the event of Patna haunts Jim not because he was forced to confront his inferior qualities as a seaman, but because he had been waiting for the opportunity to prove his superiority" (Yang, Hsieh and Tien, 2013, p. 106) [14]. He waits for a second chance to accomplish his aims. Fortunately, he finds it soon in Marlow"s job-offer. "For Marlow, the global domination of Euro-imperialism transforms "this sky and this sea" into the arena where each "one of us" is able to pursue immense "opportunities"" (Teng, 2000, p. 193) [12].

Jim is a Man of Honour
The term "one of us" can be interpreted from the point of view of "honour" also. According to Marlow, Jim is a man of honour. He likens himself with Jim in this regard. Obviously, men of honour are few in number on earth. It deserves to be mentioned that all the members of the white races are not to be called the "men of honour". For example, the German captain of the Patna and the two engineers are not honourable persons in any sense. Certainly, Jim has escaped from the ship but he feels a sense of guilt and hesitation right before he jumps into the life-boat. Furthermore, when the boat moves on, Jim still thinks about the sad fate of the eight hundred passengers on the ship. His conscience keeps on poking his brain like a pin. As a result, Jim feels extremely sorrowful and ashamed since his father"s inspiring words roam around inside his brain-"resolve fixedly never, through any possible motives, do anything which you believe to be wrong" (Conrad, 1986, p. 295) [5]-cultivating "in Jim an inflexible mindset of moralism" (Yang, Hsieh and Tien, 2013, p. 106) [14]. While answering the charges against Jim in the court, he mentions about the fact that he has felt sorry for the sleeping passengers at the time of leaving the ship. However, the other white men have thought only about themselves and their own safety. For instance, the German captain has made a quick decision to abandon the ship so that he can save his own life; the two engineers" decisions also echo this. Nobody has ever thought about the possible destruction of many lives except Jim. The worst kind of behaviour is witnessed by the readers when the captain and the two engineers reach the shore in safety and erase the act of cowardliness from their brains! They behaved as if their misconduct were not that serious! Their cunning attitude becomes more evident especially when they do not appear at the court. Obviously, Jim has been suffering mentally after the desertion of the ship. His agony is doubled when he listens to the verdict of the court. In a word, his life becomes equal to despair. Jim"s happiness seems to return when he reaches the distant island called Patusan. His honour is restored since the islanders love and respect him to the fullest; he is even given the title of honour "Tuan" or "Lord" by the inhabitants. Now, a shift from "one of us" to "one of them" takes place. It proves that Jim has utilised the second chance since he is "loved, trusted, admired, with a legend of strength and prowess forming round his name as though he had been the stuff of a hero" (Conrad, 1986, p. 171) [5]. After years of restless wandering in search of atonement and self-fulfilment, in the remote settlement of Patusan, it seems that Jim finally redeems himself, realising his idealism and becoming, "in his own eyes the equal of the impeccable men who never fall out of ranks" (Conrad, 1986, p. 334) [5]. Hence, Jim, who was once a moral cripple, triumphantly transforms himself into a saviour figure, a lawgiver, a standard bearer, and more ironically, a moral cornerstone. He starts to forget the shameful act gradually: Jim's life, however, achieves significance only in the moment that it is forgotten, because the very act of forgetting it-and the experience that it contains-is what binds a community together. Perhaps then, Marlow is not altogether incorrect. Jim is indeed -one of us‖-but only to the extent that he is not. (Boes, 2007, p. 131) [4] However, when Dain Waris, the son of Doramin [the chief of the Bugis community], is murdered, his father considers that Jim"s irresponsible behaviour is the chief reason for the son"s death. Actually, it is because of Brown"s betrayal that the innocent Dain Waris dies. Now, Jim has two alternatives before him-either to face everything boldly with honour or to escape from the island as soon as possible. But, he rightly sticks to the first option. Here, a wonderful contrast is at work between two white men. On the one hand, Brown is dishonourable and on the other hand, Jim is exceedingly honoured. Even after Jim is murdered by the angry Doramin, our sympathy is ever with Jim since he has not been a coward.

Jim Deserves Sympathy
Perhaps, Marlow thinks that as a human being, Jim deserves our sympathy. Even if he has made a huge mistake, yet we must not hate him rather we should be supportive. Most importantly, Jim is repentant after his mistake and this is the reason why we have to be sympathetic with him. Therefore, Marlow thinks that "the inquiry was a severe punishment to Jim, and that his facing itpractically of his own free willwas a redeeming feature in his abominable case" (Conrad, 1986, p. 93) [5]. In other words, according to Christopher GoGwilt (1995) in "Lord Jim and the Invention of the West", "the whole of the Patna inquiry might be read as the progressive revelation of the underlying material interests of an international capitalist imperialist" (as cited in Al-Khaiat, 2010, p. 50) [2]. Other coward officers should be treated harshly but Jim needs our compassion to survive. This is the reason why Marlow cannot agree with the verdict of the court according to which all the guilty persons are penalised equally: By carrying with him the scar of moral disgrace, ironically, Jim appears to reclaim the idealistic ground in that he exceeds the society's expectation of the outcast. He has certainly earned Marlow's sympathy, through whose progressive narration, readers probe into the Jim's innermost thoughts, seeking an understanding of the fundamental -why‖ of Jim's shattered heroism… Marlow's leniency towards Jim is obvious; perhaps, to Marlow's mind, the desertion of duty for a seaman is all too human. (Yang, Hsieh and Tien, 2013, p. 107) [14]

Jim has Shameful Secrets
Perhaps, by referring to Jim as "one of us", Marlow may have indicated that we all have one shameful secret in our pasts. Jim"s sense of shame arises because he has jumped from what he believes is a sinking ship: Jim  [14] Jim"s "age of innocence is over. In the face of such a catastrophe, it is comprehensible that Jim, tormented by his wounded ego, interprets his physical descent from the Patna as a free fall from heaven to hell" (Yang, Hsieh and Tien, 2013, p. 106) [14]. "There was no going back. It was as if I had jumped into a wellinto an everlasting deep hole" (Conrad, 1986, p. 125) [5]. In other words, Jim"s disgrace is similar to the Biblical Fall. Right after the jump, Jim turns into Adam; his sense of shame never leaves him and rather acts, from then on, as a constant shadow over his happiness.
However, Marlow feels the mental agony that Jim is constantly suffering from. Therefore, Marlow"s court of conscience does not label Jim as guilty although the court of the law does. This pervasive emotion is constantly returned by Marlow in his narrative as he points out several times that others do not think badly of him; it is only Jim who is unable to forgive himself. Yet, through the romantic escapades, Jim endeavours to erase his shame. He decides to live in Patusan since no one knows his shameful past there. In addition, since he has broken the codes of sacrifice and honour, he makes a decision to chastise himself for the rest of his life.

Jim is Homosexual!
Perhaps, Marlow appears to be homosexual and he thinks that Jim is homosexual too. For example, Jim is surprised to know that Marlow has stared at him for a long time-"What did you mean by staring at me all the morning?" (Conrad, 1986, p. 95) [5].  (Conrad, 1986, p. 189-190) [5] Now, we can find in the aforementioned lines that Marlow"s attachment to Jim is very intense. Obviously, such feeling has an effect on his professional opinion. It seems to us that Marlow is trying to conceal something concerning that bond from his crew. However, there are myriad details in Lord Jim that indicate at the homoerotic element in the rapport between Marlow and Jim. For example, Marlow takes Jim to dinner-"I had been staying at the Malabar House for a few days, and on my pressing invitation he dined with me there" (Conrad, 1986, p. 99) [5]. Again, Marlow escorts Jim to his hotel room after the trial. As Marlow utters: He followed me as manageable as a little child, with an obedient air, with no sort of manifestation, rather as though he had been waiting for me there to come along and carry him off. (Conrad, 1986, p. 168) [5] Normally, a man is supposed to escort a woman. But, in Lord Jim, Marlow is leading Jim to the hotel, which is something weird and homoerotic! Even in most of the romantic novels, men accompany the stunning young damsels in difficulty, not good-looking youthful men. Perhaps, "on a deeper level, on which the relation between Jim and Marlow is the true subject, it is the moral ambivalence of a disavowed homosexual attraction that drives the narrative on" (Harpham, 1996, p. 120) [6]. Later on, Marlow recommends Jim to a variety of proprietors of shops, plantations, and business parties in the East. Denver, "more than middle-aged bachelor, with a reputation for eccentricity" (Conrad, 1986, p. 179) [5], is one of the tradesmen and the owner of a rice mill; he almost adopts Jim. Jim is merely an employee but Denver provides him with a room in his house; according to Marlow, the relationship between Jim and Denver looks like this:  (Conrad, 1986, p. 180) [5] The references to the words like "freshness", "blooming", and "violets" are used by the older males in homoerotic literature especially when a young man"s appearance is described. When Jim departs, Denver seemed very sad as if he were a jilted lover: There are no spoons missing, as far as I know… I haven't been interested enough to inquire. He is gone, leaving on the breakfast-  (Conrad, 1986, p.181) [5] Jim appears rather passively to us. He is more an object rather than a subject since we hardly know about his inner mind. He is a person for whom others feel pity and become emotional. Consequently, Mr. Denver adores him and feels deceived when Jim departs. Noticeably, Jim is devoid of any homosexual orientation; it would be better to say that he just rouses a homoerotic reaction. At the same time, we can rightly say that Jim is not particularly heterosexual either as he leaves Jewel the way he left the mill owner earlier. Certainly, Jewel feels that she has also been deceived by Jim. It goes without saying that Marlow loves Jim too like the way Jewel and Denver do, and feels likewise deceived by his narcissistic suicide. Marlow last sees Jim when the latter turns into a notable person in Patusan. The inhabitants fear that Marlow will take Jim away from them; they do not want to lose their hero. Jewel is more doubtful about Marlow than others. "While Jim and I were talking," Marlow tells the reader, "she would come and go with rapid glances at us, leaving on her passage an impression of grace and charm and a distinct suggestion of watchfulness" (Conrad, 1986, p. 251) [5]. Nonetheless, Marlow assures Jewel that he has no intention to take Jim away from her: ""Why did you come to us from out there?"" she asks Marlow. ""He speaks of you too often. You make me afraid. Do you--do you want him?" A sort of stealthy fierceness had crept into our published not only in Bangladesh but also in America and Germany. His pen name is "শব্দরাজ" in Bangla and its translation is "King of Words" in English. Moreover, several of his scholarly articles made their presence felt in international journals. He also worked as a Peer Reviewer for some reputed international journals. He invented some words and terms: "Poetenry" [poems of ten lines], "Kurine" [poems of twenty lines] etc. At the moment, he looks forward to exploring the tragedies of William Shakespeare. His favourite pastime activities include-playing chess, listening to good music, angling and occasional theatre directing. In addition, he likes to keep in touch with the friends and readers on the various social networking sites. It is worth mentioning that he is a dreamer and optimistic by nature. At present, he teaches English language and literature at Sylhet International University, Sylhet, Bangladesh.