Paradox and Polarity in the Fiction of Joseph Conrad

by Stephen K. Land

The book begins with the observation that certain situations and dispositions of character-types can be traced in most of Conrad's longer works and in many of his short stories. Examination of his works in order of composition reveals a development through several stages with respect to a pattern of the placement of the hero between conflicting opposites and the development around him of a paradoxical situation in which purposive action proves self-defeating.

Hardcover

First published February 1, 1985