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: :Could anyone explain the significance of "one of us?" I'm having trouble understanding what exactly this phrase referrs to. : : : : Were you able to find a summary? : : Here's what I could dig up: : : Marlow is at a dinner with a number of companions, where he tells the story of Jim, a young man from the "right" background-- : : "one of us," as he says often during the story. : : Jim went to sea at an early age, rising quickly in the ranks. He has, however, a fatal flaw, his vivid romantic imagination. Because : : of a fluke chain of events, he finds himself an officer aboard the Patna, a rusty old ship crewed by a group of misfits carrying a : : large group of Moslem pilgrims. The ship hits something and begins taking on water. The crew panics and abandons ship, but Jim's : : imagination about what the sinking will be like paralyzes him. Without conscious effort, he jumps off of the ship, as if into "an : : everlastingly deep hole." : : As it happens, the Patna doesn't sink, and the crew is accused of deliliction of duty. The others all run away, and Jim alone faces : : the hearing to determine responsibility for what happened. Marlow first sees him during this hearing and becomes fascinated with : : how this young man, "one of us," have had this happen to him. At the end of the hearing, Jim loses his certificate, and Marlow : : offers to recommend him for a . Marlow later finds out that Jim performs a series of dangerous s very well, but he stays only : : until someone finds out that he's from the Patna. In reality, no one much cares about his past, execpt Jim. He cannot forgive : : himself, so his perception of his duty drives him on. Jim keeps running from his past until Marlow finally realizes that he's : : destroying himself. : : Marlow decides to consult an older friend, Stein, who is himself a romantic. Stein offers Jim a spot at a trading post in Patusan, a : : place where he will have to make his own way or die in the effort. Jim eagerly goes there, and he helps the natives throw off their : : oppressors by means of a daring plan to attack them, and he takes responsibility for its success on his own head. It works, and he : : becomes Tuan Jim-- Lord Jim-- to the natives. He consults with Doramin, an old native chief, and his best friend is Doramin's son, : : Dain Waris. He falls in love with Jewell, a mostly-native girl. : : By chance, a pirate, Gentleman Brown, arrives in Patusan. Brown psychologically manipulates Jim, and Jim offers Brown the : : chance to leave, again taking responsibility on his own head. Brown, working with some of Jim's enemies in Patusan, kills Dain : : Waris on his way out. Instead of fighting, Jim goes to Doramin, who shoots him, and he pes away, "under a cloud, inscrutable at : : heart, forgotten, unforgiven, and excessively romantic. Not in the wildest days of his boyish visions could he have seen the alluring : : shape of such an extraordinary success! ...Is he satisfied--quite now, I wonder? We ought to know. He is one of us..." : : Conrad's original plan was that Lord Jim would be a companion to "Youth" and "Heart of Darkness," but it apparently got out of : : control. The book's structure is confusing, and many many readers at the time of its publication were mystefied. : : LFSmith

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