Abstract: Lord Jim is a famous novel written by Joseph Conrad, and it is a milestone among all the works of Conrad. It also receives significant attention of scholars both at home and abroad. This novel inherits the tradition of exploring the problem of morality in English novels. It describes the protagonist Jim who seems to live for one mistake and die for the other mistake. The author uses the unique narrative skills and exquisite psychological descriptions to analyze the whole process of the protagonist’s reconstruction of morality and state the root of moral degeneration. This paper starts with the protagonist’s seeking of the moral salvation and integrates the author’s ethic background to discuss the moral degeneration and reconstruction in the process of western civilization.

Key words: Lord Jim; moral exploration; moral crisis; moral redemption

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1About Joseph Conrad and Lord Jim-1

1.2 Previous Studies on Lord Jim-2

2. Analyzes on Jim’s Personality-3

2.1Self-indulgence: Jim’s Heroism-3

2.2 Embodiment of the Superego-5

2.3 Other Flaws in Jim’s Personality-7

3. The Way to the Moral Salvation-9

3.1The Conflict of Humanity-9

3.2Jim’s Moral Dilemma to Moral Crisis-11

3.2.1 Jim’s Moral Dilemma-11

3.2.2 Jim’s Moral Crisis-12

3.3Jim’s Moral Redemption-14

4. Conclusion-17

Reference-19