You are correct. Giselle, just a senior moment for me in the Marlow/Mallory misstatement.

giselle wrote:... On Mallory, (I think you mean "Marlow") I agree he becomes the narrator in Ch5, if I recall from "Heart of Darkness", Marlow was a main character and I guess could be described as 'narrator' but I don't know if the two Marlow's are one and the same character.

from the Wikipedia page on Lord Jim:

Marlow is also the narrator of three of Conrad's other works: Heart of Darkness, Youth, and Chance.

DWill wrote:Conrad's language is a little baroque, maybe, for modern tastes. And he can go on at times, as in the scene ending Chapter 5, when the engineer is having his trauma-induced psychotic episode. But Conrad is a word-magician, as every writer who deserves to be called great must be.

Perhaps someone has already mentioned it and I just missed it, but it surprised me to learn that English was not Conrad's native language. From the Wikipedia page on Joseph Conrad:

Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English,[4] though he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and always with a marked Polish accent).

He was raised in Poland and moved to France in his late teens, then later to England. The story of his life reads like one of his books -- he did some sailing before settling in England to write.

DWill wrote: Marlow comes on the scene first from the viewpoint of the omniscient narrator, and from then on I believe all the narration is Marlowe's. The narrator being a character, but not involved in any of the action, gives the story an interesting and more immediate voice, for me.

A comment on Marlow as narrator - I would say he is a narrator but he is also a story-teller or, in this case, perhaps we could call this 'spinning a yarn'. Certainly, Conrad's world of sailors is one of rumour, gossip and conclusions drawn about people based on slim evidence. It will be interesting to see how Conrad develops Marlow as a character who is also the story-teller. The idea of story-telling fits well in Conrad's world of the sea, ships and sailors. The fact that Conrad did not have English as a first language and that he apparently spoke accented english may have contributed to his inclusion of an english speaking narrator in his book(s). The other thing I have noticed in these early chapters is the repeated reference to 'race', white, Malay, mixed race etc. but quite clear that race is prominent in the characters' minds and, I guess, in Conrad's mind. Race clearly matters. I think this is quite appropriate given the sensibilities of that time and the sailors' exposure to all races on a regular basis. Still, I find it an archaic way to think, and rather strange to think that the time frame is a mere 100-150 years ago.

giselle wrote: The fact that Conrad did not have English as a first language and that he apparently spoke accented english may have contributed to his inclusion of an english speaking narrator in his book(s). The other thing I have noticed in these early chapters is the repeated reference to 'race', white, Malay, mixed race etc. but quite clear that race is prominent in the characters' minds and, I guess, in Conrad's mind. Race clearly matters. I think this is quite appropriate given the sensibilities of that time and the sailors' exposure to all races on a regular basis. Still, I find it an archaic way to think, and rather strange to think that the time frame is a mere 100-150 years ago.

Perhaps it is this fact (Conrad's native language was not English) that makes Marlow speak more like a college professor of literature than a sea captain. Though I must confess ignorance as to the educational background of a British sea-captain at this time.

The mention of race, and the constant reference to it must be viewed in the light of the time of the novel. This was at the height of British (and European) Imperialism - "The sun never sets on the Britich Empire." From my own reading of other British writers of this period (Kipling comes to mind), the implication seems strong that the 'white man' considered himself superior to all other races. Thus such terms a 'native,' 'half-caste,' and even the infamous 'nigger' tells us that Marlow and his fellows, perhaps even Jim, considered the local as definite inferiors.