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{{short description|1902 novel by Joseph Conrad}}
⚫ {{Infobox Book
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
⚫ {{Infobox book
| name = Typhoon | name = Typhoon
| title_orig = | title_orig =
| translator = | translator =
| image = <!--prefer 1st edition--> | image = File:TyphoonNovel.jpg
| caption = First book edition (US)
| image_caption =
| author = ] | author = ]
| illustrator = | illustrator =
| cover_artist = | cover_artist =
| country = ] | country = United Kingdom
| language = ] | language = English
| series = | genre = ]
| genre = ] | publisher = '']''
| publisher = ]
| release_date = 1902 | release_date = 1902
| english_release_date = | english_release_date =
| media_type = Print (] & ]) | media_type = Print (hardback & paperback)
| pages =
| isbn = NA <!-- Released before ISBN system implimented -->
| oclc = 2312277 | oclc = 2312277
| preceded_by = | preceded_by =
| followed_by = | followed_by =
}} }}


'''''Typhoon''''' is a novel by ], begun in 1899 and serialized in ] January to March 1902. Its first book publication was in New York by ] in 1902 and was published in Britain in '''''Typhoon and Other Stories''''' by ] in 1903. '''''Typhoon''''' is a short novel by ], begun in 1899 and serialized in '']'' in January–March 1902. Its first book publication was in New York by ] in 1902; it was also published in Britain in '''''Typhoon and Other Stories''''' by ] in 1903.


==Plot summary== ==Plot summary==
Captain MacWhirr sails the ''Nan-Shan'', a British-built steamer running under the ]ese flag, into a ]—a mature ] of the northwestern part of the ]. Other characters include the young Jukes—most probably an ] of Conrad from the time he had sailed under captain John McWhir—and Solomon Rout, the chief engineer. While MacWhirr, who, according to Conrad, "never walked on this Earth"—is emotionally estranged from his family and crew, and though he refuses to consider an alternative course to skirt the typhoon, his indomitable will in the face of a superior natural force elicits grudging admiration.
The protagonist of Joseph Conrad's narrative of a typhoon in the China Seas is Captain Tom MacWhirr. Recommended by the builders of the Nan-Shan to Sigg and Sons, who want a competent and dependable master for their vessel, MacWhirr is gruff, empirical, without imagination. Although his reputation as a mariner is impeccable, his manner does not inspire confidence; yet, when he is first shown around the Nan-Shan by the builders, he immediately notes that its locks are poorly made.


==Analysis==
Young Mr. Jukes, MacWhirr's first mate, full of himself, curious about others, always rushing off to meet trouble before it comes, is satiric concerning MacWhirr's limitations, especially his literal-mindedness, his inability to communicate with others in ordinary terms, and his taciturnity. For his part, MacWhirr is amazed at Jukes's capacity for small talk and his use of metaphorical language, for MacWhirr himself notes only the facts by which he lives. However, he is astute enough to respect in others the ability to perform their tasks ably. Having just enough imagination to carry him through each day, tranquilly certain of his competence—although it has never been fully tested—MacWhirr communicates the essential details of his voyages to his wife and children in monthly letters that they read perfunctorily. These same letters are furtively and eagerly read by the steward, who, somehow, appreciates the truths that they distill.
Conrad "broke new ground" by showing the ways a steam ship differs from a sailing vessel, an historic shift occurring at the time. For example how the crew were broken into "sailors and firemen" ; the unromantic labors of Hackett and Beal; the captain as a mirror of his ship, isolated from nature and lacking the power of imagination.<ref name="Fraser">{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad |publisher=Cambridge University Press |chapter=The Short Fiction |author=Gail Fraser |editor=J. H. Stape |orig-year=1996 |year=2004 |pages= |isbn=0521484847 }}</ref>


Stylistically, Conrad made "perhaps the most celebrated ] in modern short fiction".<ref name="Fraser" /> At the end of chapter V the story reaches a climactic point, the ship barely makes it into the eye of the typhoon and faces a final challenge to exit the storm through the eye wall.
A minor contretemps between Jukes and the captain occurs early in the narrative when, Jukes believes, MacWhirr fails to understand the implications of the Nan-Shan's transfer from its original British to a Siamese registry. MacWhirr reads Jukes's displeasure at the change as a literal comment on the size and shape of the Siamese flag. He checks its dimensions, colors, and insignia in his naval guide and then tells Jukes that it is correct in every way. Jukes, nevertheless, continues to feel resentment against MacWhirr and the flag's Siamese elephant on a blue ground, lamenting the loss of the red, white, and blue of the Union Jack, symbol of security and order. Another minor disagreement concerns MacWhirr's and Jukes's differing opinions over the boatswain: Jukes dislikes the man for his lack of initiative and for a good nature that he thinks amounts almost to imbecility; MacWhirr respects him as a first-rate seaman who performs his tasks without grumbling.
:The hurricane, with its power to madden the seas, to sink ships, to uproot trees, to overturn strong walls and dash the very birds of the air to the ground, had found this taciturn man in its path, and, doing its utmost, had managed to wring out a few words. Before the renewed wrath of winds swooped on his ship, Captain MacWhirr was moved to declare, in a tone of vexation, as it were: “I wouldn't like to lose her.”


This is followed by a single sentence:
The other members of the Nan-Shan crew are Solomon Rout, the chief engineer, who writes colorful and entertaining accounts of his voyages to his wife and aged mother; the second mate, who finds that he cannot function during the typhoon and is later dismissed for his failure of nerve; and the steward. MacWhirr and his crew are responsible for two hundred Chinese passengers, who, with their belongings and the silver dollars they have saved during the years that they have worked in the tropics, are returning home.


:He was spared that annoyance.
As MacWhirr and Jukes notice the rapidly falling barometer that portends the typhoon ahead, they react characteristically to the “fact” of the coming storm. Jukes is amazed at, yet respectful of, MacWhirr's decision to meet the weather head-on rather than to sail behind or around it. MacWhirr consults the textbooks; he then concludes that one Captain Wilson's account of a “storm strategy” cannot be credited because Wilson could not testify to the activities of a storm he had not experienced. “Let it come, then,” says MacWhirr with “dignified indignation.”


The story then leaps forward in time with the ship back in port, the events of what happened unstated. This was an innovative technique with hints of ].<ref name="Fraser" /> He challenges the reader to fill in the events of the story themselves. The break in the chronology is particularly effective, and jarring, as the preceding passages had been so detailed that the time it took to read the novel and the real time of the story were not so far apart.<ref name="Fraser" />
The gale arrives, in ever-increasing ferocity, attacking the Nan-Shan, the crew, and the passengers “like a personal enemy.” At one point, as the storm nears its apex, the boatswain makes his way to the bridge to tell MacWhirr of the chaos that the pounding waves have caused in the hold where the coolies are billeted. The storm has buffeted those below with the same vehemence it has hit those above the decks: to the brink of dissolution. The Chinese and their unsecured silver dollars have been hurled against the stairs and the bulkheads by the savage waves. MacWhirr tells Jukes to see to the confusion below and to return to the bridge as soon as he can, for it may be necessary for him to assume command of the ship. Afraid, Jukes makes his way belowdecks. During the lull, as the Nan-Shan finds the eye of the storm, he and the boatswain rig lifelines and secure the hold. It is, however, only when he hears MacWhirr's voice through the speaking tube, with which the captain communicates with Solomon Rout and the engine room, that Jukes musters sufficient initiative to obey MacWhirr's order and to secure the hold.


==Real life connections==
The turning point of the story occurs when MacWhirr, uncertain of the outcome of his decision to confront the storm, finds his matches in their accustomed place. “I shouldn’t like to lose her,” he says of the Nan-Shan as he gives in, momentarily, to the unaccustomed sensation of mental fatigue. Jukes, once he has settled the Chinese workmen, returns to the bridge and there experiences such self-confidence as to make him equal to the challenge of the storm—once the ship sails out of its eye—and to any future challenges as well.
In 1887, Conrad worked as chief mate on the ''Highland Forest'' under Captain John McWhir, whom he portrays in the novel as "McWhirr".<ref name="Allen177">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/seayearsofjoseph00alle |title=Sea Years of Joseph Conrad |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, N. Y. |author=Jerry Allen |year=1965 |page=}}</ref> He drew upon this six months voyage for the novel.<ref name="Allen322">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/seayearsofjoseph00alle |title=Sea Years of Joseph Conrad |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, N. Y. |author=Jerry Allen |year=1965 |page=}}</ref>


Conrad once dictated to biographer and friend ] a list of ships he served on, and the stories they were connected to—the connections might have been minor (a single character or incident) or major (a complete voyage), Conrad did not indicate. For ''Typhoon'' he said it "suggested" the steamer ''John P. Best'' which he served on.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/josephconradstud00curlrich |title=Joseph Conrad: A Study |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, N. Y. |author=Richard Curle |author-link=Richard Curle |year=1914 |pages=}}</ref><ref name="Allen179">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/seayearsofjoseph00alle |title=Sea Years of Joseph Conrad |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, N. Y. |author=Jerry Allen |year=1965 |page=}}</ref>
Once the storm is over, the ship, grayed by salt and devastated by wind, sails into port with life restored, as much as possible, to normal order. The second mate, who had frozen on deck, is put off the ship. MacWhirr, the reader learns, has solved the problem of the Chinese and their money by dividing the silver dollars equally among them. The three dollars left over he has given to the three most seriously injured men.


Joseph Conrad dedicated the book to ], a fellow writer and Scots radical who was an enthusiastic supporter of Conrad since his earliest publications.<ref name="Allen30">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/seayearsofjoseph00alle |title=Sea Years of Joseph Conrad |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, N. Y. |author=Jerry Allen |year=1965 |pages=, }}</ref>
The tale does not dramatize the second half of the storm. It concludes instead with an epilogue of sorts, during which the principal characters detail in written form their impressions of the typhoon.


==Major themes== ==Characters==
* Captain Tom MacWhirr, an empirical man without imagination.
On the surface an adventure novel, the book contains many interwoven themes including:
* Jukes, the ]. ''Typhoon'' alternates between his third-person limited point of view, the third-person limited point of view of MacWhirr, and the third-person omniscient point of view of the narrator.
* In a dangerous situation, people will follow someone showing certainty even if the source of the certainty is dubious.
* Jukes' absent friend, the second mate from a trans-Atlantic liner. The omniscient narrator quotes from Jukes's letters to him, and the friend comments to his shipmates about a letter from Jukes.
* Lack of imagination can place one in as much danger as lack of experience.
* Solomon Rout, the ], an experienced seaman.
* The garrulous, choleric second engineer Harry and the silent third engineer Beale.
* The ], "an ill-favoured, undersized, gruff sailor of fifty, coarsely hairy, short-legged, long-armed, resembing an elderly ape."
* The ]: "He was one of those men who...are competent enough, appear hopelessly hard up, show no evidence of any kind of vice, and carry about with them all the signs of manifest failure."
* The other sailors, steward and cook of the ''Nan-Shan''. The reader only learns the name of the helmsman, Hackett.
* The ], hired workers being sent home to China by the Bun Hin Company.
* The clerk for the Bun Hin Company, who interprets between the workers and the ship's officers.
* Mrs. Lucy MacWhirr, Lydia, and Tom, the Captain's wife, daughter and son, who all comment upon him in one way or another from their home in London.
* Mrs. Rout, the chief engineer's wife and the elder Mrs. Rout, the chief engineer's mother, also living in London, who comment upon the engineer.
* The two owners of the shipbuilding firm in Dumbarton, Scotland, that constructed the ''Nan-Shan''. They discuss MacWhirr after hiring and briefing him.

==References==
{{Reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{wikisource|Typhoon}}
*, available at ] (original edition scanned books) * , available at ] (1921 edition)
* {{gutenberg|no=1142|name=Typhoon}}
* {{ria|117|Typhoon}} * {{Gutenberg |no=1142 |name=Typhoon}}
* {{Librivox book |title=Typhoon |author=Joseph Conrad}}


{{Conrad}} {{Conrad}}


{{Authority control}}
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⚫ ]

{{1900s-novel-stub}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Typhoon (novel)}}
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Latest revision as of 13:34, 6 June 2024

1902 novel by Joseph Conrad

Typhoon
First book edition (US)
AuthorJoseph Conrad
LanguageEnglish
GenreAdventure story
PublisherPall Mall Magazine
Publication date1902
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
OCLC2312277

Typhoon is a short novel by Joseph Conrad, begun in 1899 and serialized in Pall Mall Magazine in January–March 1902. Its first book publication was in New York by Putnam in 1902; it was also published in Britain in Typhoon and Other Stories by Heinemann in 1903.

Plot summary

Captain MacWhirr sails the Nan-Shan, a British-built steamer running under the Siamese flag, into a typhoon—a mature tropical cyclone of the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. Other characters include the young Jukes—most probably an alter ego of Conrad from the time he had sailed under captain John McWhir—and Solomon Rout, the chief engineer. While MacWhirr, who, according to Conrad, "never walked on this Earth"—is emotionally estranged from his family and crew, and though he refuses to consider an alternative course to skirt the typhoon, his indomitable will in the face of a superior natural force elicits grudging admiration.

Analysis

Conrad "broke new ground" by showing the ways a steam ship differs from a sailing vessel, an historic shift occurring at the time. For example how the crew were broken into "sailors and firemen" ; the unromantic labors of Hackett and Beal; the captain as a mirror of his ship, isolated from nature and lacking the power of imagination.

Stylistically, Conrad made "perhaps the most celebrated ellipsis in modern short fiction". At the end of chapter V the story reaches a climactic point, the ship barely makes it into the eye of the typhoon and faces a final challenge to exit the storm through the eye wall.

The hurricane, with its power to madden the seas, to sink ships, to uproot trees, to overturn strong walls and dash the very birds of the air to the ground, had found this taciturn man in its path, and, doing its utmost, had managed to wring out a few words. Before the renewed wrath of winds swooped on his ship, Captain MacWhirr was moved to declare, in a tone of vexation, as it were: “I wouldn't like to lose her.”

This is followed by a single sentence:

He was spared that annoyance.

The story then leaps forward in time with the ship back in port, the events of what happened unstated. This was an innovative technique with hints of post-modernism. He challenges the reader to fill in the events of the story themselves. The break in the chronology is particularly effective, and jarring, as the preceding passages had been so detailed that the time it took to read the novel and the real time of the story were not so far apart.

Real life connections

In 1887, Conrad worked as chief mate on the Highland Forest under Captain John McWhir, whom he portrays in the novel as "McWhirr". He drew upon this six months voyage for the novel.

Conrad once dictated to biographer and friend Richard Curle a list of ships he served on, and the stories they were connected to—the connections might have been minor (a single character or incident) or major (a complete voyage), Conrad did not indicate. For Typhoon he said it "suggested" the steamer John P. Best which he served on.

Joseph Conrad dedicated the book to Cunninghame Graham, a fellow writer and Scots radical who was an enthusiastic supporter of Conrad since his earliest publications.

Characters

  • Captain Tom MacWhirr, an empirical man without imagination.
  • Jukes, the first mate. Typhoon alternates between his third-person limited point of view, the third-person limited point of view of MacWhirr, and the third-person omniscient point of view of the narrator.
  • Jukes' absent friend, the second mate from a trans-Atlantic liner. The omniscient narrator quotes from Jukes's letters to him, and the friend comments to his shipmates about a letter from Jukes.
  • Solomon Rout, the chief engineer, an experienced seaman.
  • The garrulous, choleric second engineer Harry and the silent third engineer Beale.
  • The boatswain, "an ill-favoured, undersized, gruff sailor of fifty, coarsely hairy, short-legged, long-armed, resembing an elderly ape."
  • The second mate: "He was one of those men who...are competent enough, appear hopelessly hard up, show no evidence of any kind of vice, and carry about with them all the signs of manifest failure."
  • The other sailors, steward and cook of the Nan-Shan. The reader only learns the name of the helmsman, Hackett.
  • The coolies, hired workers being sent home to China by the Bun Hin Company.
  • The clerk for the Bun Hin Company, who interprets between the workers and the ship's officers.
  • Mrs. Lucy MacWhirr, Lydia, and Tom, the Captain's wife, daughter and son, who all comment upon him in one way or another from their home in London.
  • Mrs. Rout, the chief engineer's wife and the elder Mrs. Rout, the chief engineer's mother, also living in London, who comment upon the engineer.
  • The two owners of the shipbuilding firm in Dumbarton, Scotland, that constructed the Nan-Shan. They discuss MacWhirr after hiring and briefing him.

References

  1. ^ Gail Fraser (2004) . "The Short Fiction". In J. H. Stape (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad. Cambridge University Press. pp. 38-39. ISBN 0521484847.
  2. Jerry Allen (1965). Sea Years of Joseph Conrad. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday. p. 177.
  3. Jerry Allen (1965). Sea Years of Joseph Conrad. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday. p. 322.
  4. Richard Curle (1914). Joseph Conrad: A Study. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday. pp. 17-18.
  5. Jerry Allen (1965). Sea Years of Joseph Conrad. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday. p. 179.
  6. Jerry Allen (1965). Sea Years of Joseph Conrad. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday. pp. 30, 302.

External links

Joseph Conrad (works)
Novels and
novellas
Short stories
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