Victory: An Island TaleIn Victory (1915) Conrad returns to the Malay Archipelago, to the setting of his first mature novel, Lord Jim, and in Axel Heyst he creates a hero who is in many ways similar to Jim, a noble altruist destroyed by his ideals. Heyst is emotionally crippled by the influence of his dead father, a sceptical philosopher who has bequeathed to Heyst an attitude to life summed up in the father's dying words: 'Look on - make no sound.' Despite this injunction Heyst allows himself to become inextricably involved with an English Cockney girl whom he rescues from Giancomo's Travelling Ladies' Orchestra and carries off to his isolated retreat on the island of Samburan. His action incurs the fatal wrath of Schomberg, the island's innkeeper, who sends in pursuit of Heyst three demonic strangers whose invasion of his island paradise leads rapidly to the novel's violent and tragic close. Victory was the first of Conrad's novels to be completed after the commercial success of Chance (1914) had transformed Conrad's fortunes and made him internationally famous. It is a more complex example of the literary form which Conrad evolved for Lord Jim: a story of action and high adventure coexisting with an exhaustive study of the psychology of the central character. |
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Page xix
... sense of being emotionally stirred , as when he first sees Alma , Heyst feels ' a secret touch on the heart ' ; or you can be ' touched ' , handled , ' grabbed ' by any of the alien predators drifting around the world . Heyst is , of ...
... sense of being emotionally stirred , as when he first sees Alma , Heyst feels ' a secret touch on the heart ' ; or you can be ' touched ' , handled , ' grabbed ' by any of the alien predators drifting around the world . Heyst is , of ...
Page 4
... sense as conspicuous . Every one in that part of the world knew of him , dwelling on his little island . An island is but the top of a mountain . Axel Heyst , perched on it immovably , was surrounded , instead of the impon- derable ...
... sense as conspicuous . Every one in that part of the world knew of him , dwelling on his little island . An island is but the top of a mountain . Axel Heyst , perched on it immovably , was surrounded , instead of the impon- derable ...
Page 33
... sense , lonely . He never had any sort of company on board . Native deck- passengers in plenty , of course , but never a white man , so the presence of Heyst for two days must have been a godsend . Davidson was telling us all about it ...
... sense , lonely . He never had any sort of company on board . Native deck- passengers in plenty , of course , but never a white man , so the presence of Heyst for two days must have been a godsend . Davidson was telling us all about it ...
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Common terms and phrases
Alfuro arms asked believe boat breath bungalow chair Chinaman Chink Conrad course dark Davidson door doorway dream eyes face faint feeling fellow felt Flores Sea Ford Madox Ford frightened gaze gentleman girl glance gleam gone governor hand head heard Heyst hotel-keeper island Java Sea jetty JOHN BATCHELOR Jones Joseph Conrad Lena light lips looked Lord Jim Martin matter mean mind Morrison moved murmured mysterious never night Norman Sherry Nostromo Number once Pedro perhaps Ricardo round Samburan Schom Schomberg schooner secretary seemed seen shadow shoulders side sight silence smile sort sound Sourabaya speak staring stood strange suddenly surprised table d'hôte talk tell Tesmans There's thing thought tion told tone Tony Tanner turned understand verandah voice walked Wang Wang's watched wharf What's whispered woman wonder words Zangiacomo