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

Plot summary

Characters

• Captain MacWhirr, an empirical man without imagination.
• Jukes, the first mate.
• Salomon Rout, the chief engineer, an experienced seaman.
• The boatswain.
• The second mate.
• The coolies, hired workers from India and China.
• Mrs MacWhirr, the Captain's wife.
• Mrs Rout, the chief engineer's wife.
• Messrs Sigg and Son, the owners of the boat.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

On the surface an adventure novel, the book contains many interwoven themes including:

• In a dangerous situation, people will follow someone showing certainty even if the source of the certainty is dubious.
• Lack of imagination can place one in as much danger as lack of experience.

One of the major themes of the novella is the contrast between Conrad's characters who are imaginative men aware of the larger issues of life and conscious of the potential for disaster and the literal minded and relatively unaware Captain MacWhirr. MacWhirr is a hard working captain devoted to routine and loyal to the needs of the Nan-Shan and the interests of her owners. Yet he lacks imagination and seems oblivious to the threat of death or disaster in any situation. His response to Jukes's concern about the dangers of flying under the Siamese flag—the colors of an Asian nation which is negligible in the international power struggle—illustrates MacWhirr's lack of imaginative vision. After Jukes's remark, MacWhirr gets the Siamese flag out and studies it carefully to see if there is a flaw in the material, a ludicrous reaction to a statement which nearly everyone would recognize as metaphorical.

The nature of MacWhirr as a commander or captain is tested by the events of "Typhoon." A more imaginative man than MacWhirr would have been concerned about the danger of the storm and changed course to avoid steaming into the teeth of the wind. Lacking imagination, MacWhirr is unable to gain insight from a book offering advice about dealing with hurricane strength winds, calling the text "a lot of words . . ." But a more imaginative commander might also have panicked under stress after actually getting the ship in the typhoon. Ironically, MacWhirr's very lack of imagination and literal-minded application to the immediate crisis enable him not only to demonstrate coolness in handling the ship, but to meet the challenge of a possible insurrection on the part of the frightened Chinese passengers with firmness and success.

Conrad also employs irony in depicting the reactions of the more aware men, from the imaginative but excitable Jukes and the veteran engineer Solomon Rout to the cynical and vicious second mate. While Jukes foresees the danger, he acts with less self-control than his commander in the early stages of the storm. Rout is somewhat calmer, but like all of the Europeans—except MacWhirr—he fears the worst in the reaction of the Chinese to having their money confiscated. Despite the second mate's experience and understanding from many voyages, his cynical and disillusioned nature makes him of little use in the storm and he begins to tell vicious lies about MacWhirr when he is put ashore after the voyage.

A final theme—though easily overlooked— is the initiation of the first mate, Mr. Jukes into a greater knowledge of men and the trials of life at sea. At the beginning of the novella, the impatient and opinionated Jukes is contemptuous of MacWhirr, failing to recognize MacWhirr's peculiar strengths as a captain ("he's too dense to trouble about," Jukes writes his friend in the "Western ocean trade"). At the end of the novella Jukes, after surviving the storm and the threat of an insurrection by the Chinese laborers, is forced to admit ruefully that Mac- Whirr "got out of it very well for such a stupid man." In fact, one could make an argument that "Typhoon" is an "initiation" story, much like "Youth," and that Jukes is its chief protagonist.

Major Characters

The main characters are Captain MacWhirr, whose limited and literal-minded approach to his work provides the central focus of interest in the novel. Even Mac- Whirr's wife seems to resent MacWhirr and prefer his absence on long voyages. Jukes constantly finds MacWhirr tiresome and aggravating, but fortunately, Mac- Whirr is too much absorbed in his duties even to understand the degree of exasperation and contempt felt by Jukes and some of the others. MacWhirr is a courageous and heroic man in his own way, since he does acknowledge the possibility of Nan-Shan being lost in the storm, but perseveres anyhow; yet Conrad's narrative implies that much of his courage and the efficacy of his actions are due to Mac- Whirr's inability to understand the perils he faces. MacWhirr's capabilities are shown by the fact that he is not imaginative enough to change course and avoid the typhoon; but he is tenacious enough to handle the ship and its men as well as could be done during the time of trial while the Nan-Shan is at the mercy of the storm. MacWhirr can also understand the need for calming the Chinese laborers when they are scrambling after their dollars during the storm; but he fails to grasp the potential for a riot when he redistributes their money during calm weather. However, MacWhirr's reliance on the traditional symbols of authority proves to be sufficient.

As a foil to MacWhirr, the first mate, Mr. Jukes, is a literate and intelligent man, but it is possible that he has too much imagination. He worries perhaps too much about sailing under the Siamese flag and he foresees numerous perils from the Chinese laborers, especially after MacWhirr confiscates the money they are fighting over during the storm. His apprehension leads to his helping arm the crew with rifles when the money is being re-distributed, a precaution MacWhirr correctly supposes to be unnecessary. During the voyage, Mr. Jukes gains experience about how to survive in a storm, but he has difficulty admitting the wisdom of MacWhirr's actions.

Unlike Mr. Jukes, the engineer, Solomon Rout, is an experienced seaman who values MacWhirr's limited qualities of mind. Rout proves to be a cool head in a crisis and like MacWhirr, understands that the ship's only chance is to ride out the storm. At the end of the novella, Rout, a good family man, makes an admiring assessment of MacWhirr's handling of the storm and the Chinese, a judgment which stands in contrast to the grudging compliment paid to MacWhirr by the youthful and less experienced first mate. Rout does not give his wife a detailed description of the storm and its perils, but the experience has had a sobering effect on him, for he ends his letter to Mrs. Rout with the wish that they might be together more. It appears at the end of the story that Rout has matured a bit and his days of careless seafaring without much worry for the consequences may be coming to an end.

Although a minor character, the second mate of the Nan-Shan is a bitter and cynical man, probably from West Hartlepool originally, with a sharp nose, bad teeth, and "no hair on his face." Hired in an emergency after the regular second mate has been injured and put ashore, the second mate is, as Conrad's narrator comments, "one of those men who are picked up at need in the ports of the world." Since he has no friends or relatives at home, the second mate writes no letters and tends to stick to his own thoughts. His career appears to be one of bad choices and poor luck, and his experiences on various voyages have made him cynical. When the storm hits the Nan-Shan, the second mate proves useless, since his habitual pessimism impels him to believe that the ship will be lost. Although it is not strictly true that he "lost his nerve" as Captain MacWhirr and the engineer believe, the second mate illustrates an important theme in Conrad: The man who is too alienated from humanity seldom functions well in a crisis.

Another minor character, Mrs. Mac-Whirr, is not only the recipient of MacWhirr's letters, but a foil to MacWhirr. Mrs. MacWhirr is herself an imperious woman and a petty tyrant, and just imaginative enough to feel superior to her itinerant husband. Conrad's readers are informed that she prefers for her husband to be absent on long voyages, mainly because his absence allows her to dominate the household. MacWhirr's final letter to her does not convey his deeper feelings about the storm and the ordeal he has gone through, and Mrs. MacWhirr is much too stupid to read between the lines. Thus, although MacWhirr becomes in his own way somewhat heroic in the eyes of the reader, his wife fails to understand the magnitude of what he has done.

By contrast, Solomon Rout's wife and his mother who share the information in Rout's letters show themselves to be more perceptive and concerned about Solomon. However, Mrs. Rout, Solomon's mother, has had many children and outlived all but Solomon. She is unable to think of Solomon as more than a ten-year-old boy, the baby of her family. Solomon's wife, a "jolly woman" is also deeply concerned with her husband's fate, but annoyed that he does not share the details of his ordeal with her.

External links

• Typhoon and Other Stories, available at Internet Archive (original edition scanned books)
• Typhoon at Project Gutenberg
• Template:Ria

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