The Life of Joseph Conrad

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The Life of Joseph Conrad
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Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)

• Born December 3, 1857 as Jozef Teodor Konrad
  Nalecz Korzeniowski
• Born to Polish parents in the Ukrainian town of
  Berdichev

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Eva Korzeniowski
Apollo Korzeniowski
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Family

• His father Apollo Korzeniowski was a poet and
  translator of English and French literature.
• He was arrested for conspiracy and was exiled
  with his family to Vologda in northern Russia.
• Died May 23, 1869
• Tuberculosis

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Family

• Originally - Eva Bobrowska
• Parents opposed the marriage to Apollo
• Died April 18, 1865
• Tuberculosis

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Family

• In 1869, Joseph was sent to live with his uncle,
  Thaddeus Bobrowski
• Lived in Switzerland
• Major influence over Conrads life
• Allowed Conrad to go to sea

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Education

• Conrad was first placed in a boarding-house in
  Cracow
• September 1873 - sent to a boarding-house in Lvov
• In 1874 - Thaddeus sent him off to the Merchant
  Marine

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Preparation

• Wished to serve in the Austrian navy
• Applied but was refused Austrian citizenship
• Traveled, in 1874, to Marseilles
• learned French, seamanship, and became financed
  by his uncle.

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Joseph Conrad in 1873 -- Age 16
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Voyages

• Started as a seamans apprentice
• an observer on harbor pilot boats
• Within two months, he took his first ocean
  voyage.
• Sailed on three voyages between 1874 and 1877

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Voyages

• Mavis
• April 1878-June 1878
• English steamship
• From Marseilles to Constantinople to Lowestoft.
• Ordinary Seaman

• Duke of Sutherland
• Oct. 1878-Oct. 1879
• From London to Sydney and back to London.
• Ordinary Seaman

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Voyages

• Europa
• Dec. 1879
• seven weeks
• Steamer
• Across the Mediterranean Sea
• Ordinary Seaman

• Loch Etive
• Aug. 1880-April 1881
• Wool Clipper
• From London to Sydney and back to London.
• Third Mate

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Voyages

• Palestine
• September 1881
• Wooden Barque
• From London to Bangkok.
• Second Mate
• Caught fire and was abandoned.

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Joseph Conrads first command -- The
Otago
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The Otago

• Conrads first command
• January 19, 1888 - June 1889
• From Singapore to Sydney and Mauritius

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Novels and Short Stories

• Most of his novels and short stories have the sea
  as a background for the action.
• The sea is also a symbolic parallel for their
  heroes inner turbulence.
• Theres little romantic interest in his novels.

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Novels and Short Stories

• 1886-wrote first short story The Black Mate
• submitted to a literary competition but was
  unsuccessful
• During the next three years, he began his first
  novel Almayers Folly
• completed in 1894

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Heart of Darkness

• Conrad continued writing diaries and journals on
  a Congo River Steamer
• These notes would eventually become the basis for
  Heart of Darkness
• It was first published in Blackwoods Magazine
• later appeared as a single volume

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Heart of Darkness

• Represents a radically new course in Conrads
  style.
• His earlier works were comparatively straight
  forward and objective
• Heart of Darkness is intensely psychological and
  analytical
• Includes a great deal of highly personal
  autobiographical details as well as purely
  symbolic elements.

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Other Works of Literature

• Lord Jim
• Nostromo
• Typhoon
• Victory
• Chance
• The Secret Agent
• Under Western
  Eyes

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Personal Life

• Married Jessie George
• 1896 (17 years younger than he)
• Two sons born
• Borys 1898
• John 1906

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World War I

• When World War I broke out, Conrad, his wife, and
  two sons were in Poland
• barely escaped imprisonment
• Back in England, Conrad assembled his entire body
  of work, which appeared in 1920.

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Honors

• Conrad was offered a knighthood by the British
  government
• declined the offer
• Also declined honorary degrees from five
  universities.
• Lived without national honor but with literary
  honor instead.

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Death

• August 3, 1924
• Conrad died of a heart attack
• Buried in Canterbury

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Teodor Jozef Konrad Korzeniowski
1857 - 1924