3 Review(s)

The Nigger of the 'Narcissus', published in 1897, is widely regarded as the finest and the strongest picture of the sea and sea life that the English language possesses. Framed around a sea voyage from Bombay to London, the action concentrates on the human community of the ship, the Narcissus. The tensions within the small number of crew are as perilous as the weather itself, and are created by two different generations of seamen. Captain Alistoun and the veteran Singleton have the reticence of men primarily concerned with their duties as seamen. In contrast, the detachment from the working community of the younger Donkin, a compulsive troublemaker, and James Wait, the 'nigger' of the title, comes to represent a powerful, if less practical, set of interests. During a ferocious gale Wait has to be rescued from the sickbed; and in the ensuing calm Donkin tries unsuccessfully to incite the crew to mutiny. Finally, as predicted by Singleton, 'the oldest able seamen in the ship', Wait dies, the wind rises, and the Narcissus is able to dock in London. The novel is Conrad's first major exploration of the psychology of service of seamen.