An Biblical Archetypal Study Of Joseph Conrad's The Nigger Of The 'Narcissus'

As a representative of the author's early creation, The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' has been generally held as Joseph Conrad's first English novel. This thesis attempts to investigate into Conrad's use of mythological or biblical allusions from the archetypal perspective, which has so far been largely ignored by critics. In the argument, relevant archetypal critical theories are used to identify and evaluate the biblical archetypes. It is hoped that, by examining the different archetypes both in the form of literary presentation and displacement, Conrad's ideas of or attitudes towards the traditional values, such as loyalty, responsibility and justice, etc. are to be defined. It is also hoped that, rather than seeing Conrad as a man who believes in the power of evil in human nature, the present study can prove that he is a man who holds unshakable confidence in mankind, and that as an patriot he believes in the ultimate emancipation of the Polish people from the Russian oppression, just like the Israelites who are fleeing from Pharaoh's rule and wandering in search of the Promised Land, they have to overcome a lot of challenge and setback.The thesis consists of five parts. Chapter 1 is a brief introduction to Joseph Conrad and to the thesis of the paper. Chapter 2 begins with a survey of the history of archetypal criticism and ends with a detailed introduction to some important theories or concepts that will be employed in the process of argument. Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 make up the body of the thesis, one dealing with the Biblical journey motif and its displacement in the modern novel, and the other devoted to the analysis of the Biblical characters and their displacements. Chapter 5 concludes with a further comment on the significance of archetypes to Conrad, the man and the writer.