He struggles to bring some order to the fiscal affairs of the ship, whose previous commander had neglected his duties, indulging in writing obscene poetry and keeping a harlot on shore.
A contretemps arises when Falk insists that a lurid episode from his past be first exposed: he had once murdered a man while on board a stranded ship, and resorted to cannibalism to survive.
"[9] "Falk"’s opening has the same structure as two of Conrad’s previous works, " Youth" (1898) and ‘Heart of Darkness"(1899): An autobiographical tale is told at an intimate gathering of mariners, now in their maturity.
[10] Literary critic Albert J. Guerard locates "Falk" among "the short personal novels of test and initiation" based on experiences "real or imagined associated with Conrad’s first voyage as captain.
"[11][12][13] Conrad presents the Hermann family and their ship as an artificial sanctuary from the primitive, elemental realities inherent in seafaring: The inhabitants of the Diana "know nothing of the world of instinct.
"[17] Reminiscent of a country cottage in its cleanliness and good order, the Diana contrasts sharply with the degenerate atmosphere that characterizes the Schomberg hotel, a den of "deceit" and "malice."
Despite the tugboat captain’s flaunting conventionality and "common decency", the narrator-captain begins to appreciate Falk’s lack of duplicity, which contrasts with "the sterile atmosphere that surrounds life in the port, where the air is thick with misapprehension, half-truths, and malicious innuendo.
[24] The denouement of "Falk" finds the protagonist triumphant, a heroic figure whose single-minded devotion to self-preservation has won him the spirited young niece of the Diana.