Chapter 3 Summary

The days pass uneventfully, until one night, some days after the voyage began, Jim finds himself on watch on the bridge of the ship, marveling at the beauty of the ocean, content with life and dreaming of the adventures and valorous deeds he will someday undertake. The captain comes up from below deck and a drunken engineer begins to verbally abuse the captain. Suddenly, the ship runs across something – flotsam, a waterlogged wreck, something – in the night, pitching the hapless engineer and the others from their feet.

Chapter 3 Analysis

The languid, poetic prose of this chapter speaks to Jim's own sense of romance. Everything seems calm and peaceful and Jim feels safe and secure and even content. While on watch, he lapses once more into dreams of his valorous achievements, and even displays a modicum of disdain for those around him. Jim regards...