Chapter 32

Summary

When Jim saw the other three men hiding in the storeroom, he ordered them to link arms and walk out. Jim followed the men and ordered them to the river, with Jewel by his side. He then told the three of them to jump into the river and take his greetings to Sherif Ali.

Jim, left alone with Jewel, realized how much he loved her. He again promised himself never to leave Patusan, where he was loved and respected. At the same time, he remembered his shame. Neither Patusan nor Jewel could make him forget the disgrace of his past failure.

One day Jewel met Marlow. She told him that she was terrified that Jim would leave her. She was afraid that he would return to the world outside, and she would be left in misery in Patusan. Her mother had warned her against white men before she died. Now she was afraid that Marlow had come to take Jim away. He tried to reassure her that Jim planned to stay in Patusan forever and reminded her that she was the only one in Patusan that doubted Jim's word. At the same time Marlow realized that she could kill him if he did not convince her that Jim was not leaving with him.

In this chapter, Jewel is developed more fully. She is depicted as intelligent and thinking; but she is also shown to be naive. She has a great fear of the "unknown," the world outside of Patusan, for she has never been off the island. She is also truly afraid that Marlow has come to take Jim away from her. When he tries to reassure her, she has trouble understanding why Jim would want to stay in Patusan forever; but she hopes that he does. The fierceness of Jewel's love is brought out clearly. She thinks that Jim will eventually desert her, having been warned by her mother to never trust white men. She also would not hesitate to kill the person who came between her and her man. Marlow understands that his life is constantly in danger in Patusan; just as he could be killed by Raja Allang, he could also be killed by Jewel. Marlow also understands that Jim is now under Jewel's power, just as he is under the power of Patusan. The gradual darkening of the river and the night, erasing everything but vague outlines, is symbolic of Jim's being pulled into the darkness of Patusan.

Marlow's idea that Jewel is overpowering Jim is a part of the fear of the native "other" which European imperialists entertained. As a woman, she is doubly "other" to the European man. Her partial European heritage seems to function only to make her an acceptable lover for Jim. Her characterization paints her as almost wholly "native."

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