Lord Jim is a novel by Joseph Conrad originally published as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine from October 1899 to November 1900.

An early and primary event in the story is the abandonment of a passenger ship in distress by its crew, including a young British seaman named Jim.

Recovering from an injury, Jim seeks a position on the SS Patna, a steamer serving the transport of 800 "pilgrims of an exacting belief" to a port on the Red Sea.

Captain Gustav thinks the ship will quickly sink, and Jim agrees but wants to put the passengers on the few boats before that can happen.

Jim then finds work as a ship chandler's clerk in ports of the East Indies, always succeeding in the job then leaving abruptly when the memory of the Patna incident catches up with him.

Marlow realises that Jim needs a new situation, something that will take him far away from modern ports and keep him occupied so that he can finally forget his guilt.

Cornelius is a lazy, jealous, and brutal man who treats his stepdaughter cruelly and steals the supplies Stein sends for sale; he is displaced by Jim's arrival and resents him for it.

"Gentleman" Brown, a marauding captain notorious for his evil ways, then sails into Patusan, his small crew on the brink of starvation.

The local defence led by Dain Waris manages to prevent the marauders from looting the village and holds them entrenched in place while Jim is away in the island's interior.

On his regular route, Marlow arrives at Stein's house a few days after this event, finding Jewel and Tamb' Itam there, and tries to make sense of what happened.

The hull sprang a large leak, the water rose rapidly, and the captain and officers abandoned the heavily listing ship.

[1] The inspiration for the character of Jim was the chief mate of the Jeddah, "Austin" Podmore Williams, whose grave was tracked down to Singapore's Bidadari Cemetery by Gavin Young in his book In Search of Conrad.

[6] Brooke was an Indian-born English adventurer who in the 1840s managed to gain power and set up an independent state in Sarawak, on the island of Borneo.

The main themes surround young Jim's potential ("he was one of us", says Marlow, the narrator) thus sharpening the drama and tragedy of his fall, his subsequent struggle to redeem himself, and Conrad's further hints that personal character flaws will almost certainly emerge given an appropriate catalyst.

A metaphysical question pervades the novel and helps unify it: whether the "destructive element" that is the "spirit" of the Universe has intention—and, beyond that, malevolent intention—toward any particular individual or is, instead, indiscriminate, impartial, and indifferent.

It is when we try to grapple with another man's intimate need that we perceive how incomprehensible, wavering, and misty are the beings that share with us the sight of the stars and the warmth of the sun."

[15] Conrad's use of a protagonist with a dubious history has been interpreted as an expression of his increasing doubts with regard to positive benefits of colonialism; literary critic Elleke Boehmer sees the novel, along with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as part of a growing suspicion that "a primitive and demoralising other" is present within the governing order of the day.

[16] The book has been adapted in 6 parts for BBC Radio: The book has twice been adapted into film: The 1979 Hindi film Kaala Patthar has strong traces of Lord Jim, with Amitabh Bachchan playing the role of an ex-Merchant Navy captain who struggles to overcome his guilt of having abandoned a ship and risked the lives of passengers, and turns into a coal-mine worker.