The Death Leading to the Remorse and Illusion of Present Life in Joseph Conrad’s the Lagoon
The death leading to the remorse and illusion of present life in Joseph Conrad’s the Lagoon
The big issues that appear in “The Lagoon” are:
1. The death as the trigger of remorse. Death is inescapable. No one in the world can avoid from the death. In this story the Diamelen’s death has trigger of Arsat’s remorse. His remorse of past event leads to the illusion of his life in the present. His regret for leaving his brother to the rajah's men haunts Arsat like the ghosts. He lives in the illusion of his brother. Besides that, he also believes that his failure to save his brother caused Diamelen's illness and death. Some proofs can be seen from Arsat’s text. “Tuan … will she die?. The white man moved his shoulder uneasily and muttered in his hesitating manner. “If such is her fate”. “No, Tuan,” said Arsat calmly. “If such is my fate, I hear, I see, I wait, I remember…” (478) From this Arsat’s text, he claims that he is responsible in Diamelen’s illness, whereas in fact Diamelen’s illness is caused of malaria, a parasitic disease spread by the bite of the anopheles mosquito. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, and the stagnant lagoon beneath Arsat's inhabit is fulfilled with the insects, as can be indicated in this passage: "The white man had some supper out of the basket, then collecting a few sticks that lay about the platform, made up a small fire, not for warmth, but for the sake of the smoke, which would keep off the mosquitoes" (478). So, it makes the contrary event for what Arsat’s thought is comparing with the reality of fact. Moreover the passage when Arsat said “I could not spare the strength to turn my head and look at him, but every moment I heard the hiss of his breath getting louder behind me"(481), it gives more depiction clearly that he lives in the illusion of his failure. He has not been able to erase the memory of the day when he left his brother behind but actually in fact his brother was die. Besides that, it also
The big issues that appear in “The Lagoon” are:
1. The death as the trigger of remorse. Death is inescapable. No one in the world can avoid from the death. In this story the Diamelen’s death has trigger of Arsat’s remorse. His remorse of past event leads to the illusion of his life in the present. His regret for leaving his brother to the rajah's men haunts Arsat like the ghosts. He lives in the illusion of his brother. Besides that, he also believes that his failure to save his brother caused Diamelen's illness and death. Some proofs can be seen from Arsat’s text. “Tuan … will she die?. The white man moved his shoulder uneasily and muttered in his hesitating manner. “If such is her fate”. “No, Tuan,” said Arsat calmly. “If such is my fate, I hear, I see, I wait, I remember…” (478) From this Arsat’s text, he claims that he is responsible in Diamelen’s illness, whereas in fact Diamelen’s illness is caused of malaria, a parasitic disease spread by the bite of the anopheles mosquito. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, and the stagnant lagoon beneath Arsat's inhabit is fulfilled with the insects, as can be indicated in this passage: "The white man had some supper out of the basket, then collecting a few sticks that lay about the platform, made up a small fire, not for warmth, but for the sake of the smoke, which would keep off the mosquitoes" (478). So, it makes the contrary event for what Arsat’s thought is comparing with the reality of fact. Moreover the passage when Arsat said “I could not spare the strength to turn my head and look at him, but every moment I heard the hiss of his breath getting louder behind me"(481), it gives more depiction clearly that he lives in the illusion of his failure. He has not been able to erase the memory of the day when he left his brother behind but actually in fact his brother was die. Besides that, it also