THE LAGOONJoseph Conrad

The Lagoon at a glance

Short story with elements of realism, adventure, and romanticism

Composed  in 1896 and first published in Cornhill Magazine in 1897

Settings (Places) Southeast Asia (Malay peninsula or

Malay archipelago) on a river flowing eastward to the ocean

On a creek flowing inland through dense forest

At a small house on a lagoon

Characters

The White Man – traveler who captains a sampan propelled by Malay oarsmen

- Unidentified by a given name or surname

- Addressed as Tuan (sir or mister) by Arsat

Arsat – protagonist, Malay who has been living in a small house on a lagoon with his wife Diamelen, who was once a servant of a rajah’s wife

- They fell in love and eloped and were chased by the rajah’s men

Diamelen – Arsat’s wife who is dying

Arsat’s brother – young man who appears in a flashback story told by Arsat

- Arsat says he died while helping him and Diamelen escape from the rajah’s men

The Juragan – steersmen of the white man’s boat

Rajah – ruler in the land of the Malays- Mentioned in the flashback story Inchi Midah – Rajah’s wife Rajah’s warriors – chased Arsat, his wife

and killed his brother

Themes

Remorse – shown when Arsat abandoned his brother to die in the hands of the Rajah’s men; attributed Diamelen’s illness and death to it

Selfishness – when Arsat claims Diamelen and runs away without stopping and looking back to his brother

Stagnation – “The creek broadened, opening out into a wide sweep of a stagnant lagoon.”

- Lagoon = life of Arsat and Diamelen since their arrival in the isolated forest dwelling

- Life was lonely, uneventful, and motionless because of Arsat’s guilt

Ever-present past – Arsat has been unable to forget the past and it still haunts him until now

- Arsat says, “[Y]ou have seen me in time of danger, seek death as other men seek life! A writing may be lost; a lie may be written; but what the eye has seen is truth and remains in the mind!”

Narration

Third person POV Midway – narrator presents lengthy

quotations in which Arsat tells the most important part of the story (death of brother during their escape)

Arsat’s account is in first

person POV

Structure

1. The white man travels to Arsat’s dwelling and discovers that Arsat’s wife is dying. (somber tone and atmosphere of the story)

2.Through flashback, Arsat tells the story of how he eloped with Diamelen with the help of his brother and how his brother died when the Rajah’s men chased them.

3. Diamelen dies. Arsat prepares to avenge his brother’s death as the white man leaves.

Climax

Diamelen dies Forced Arsat to confront his inner

demons and to prepare himself for avenging his brother’s death

“We were sons of the same mother – and I left him in the midst of enemies; but I am going back now…In a little while I shall see clear enough to strike – to strike.”

Figures of Speech

Alliteration – repetition of constant sound

- somber and dull, stood motionless and silent on each side of the broad stream

- but her big eyes; wide open, glittered in the gloom,

- sunset put out by the swift and stealthy shadows

Anaphora – repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of word groups occurring one after the other

- In the stillness of the air every tree, every leaf, every bough, every tendril of creeper and every petal of minute blossoms seemed to have been bewitched into an immobility perfect and final

Metaphor – comparison of unlike things without using like, as, than, or as if

- The earth…became…a battle-field of phantoms

- Darkness oozed out from between the trees

Paradox – contradictory statement that may actually be true

- there’s no worse enemy and no better friend that a brother…

Simile – comparison of unlike things using like, as, than, or as if

- Water that shone smoothly like a band of metal- A twisted root of some tall tree…writhing and

motionless, like an arrested snake

Vocabulary

Nibong, nipa – palm trees of Asia with leaves that can be used to make a roof

Prau – Malayan boat with a triangular sail and an outrigger

Sampan – small boat with

stem-mounted oar used for steering

Sarong – Malay garment of men and women

- Consists of single length of cloth that is wrapped at the waist and may extend to the knees or ankles

Tuan – Malay term for sir or mister