# Identity and Displacement in Suspense

> Theme guide for Suspense by Joseph Conrad.

Characters grapple with their identities in a world of exile and shifting allegiances—Adèle is torn between her royalist upbringing and liberal ideals, while Cosmo feels like a stranger in foreign lands, and the émigrés struggle to define themselves after the Revolution.

## Where it surfaces

- [Suspense](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/suspense): Cosmo, an Englishman in Genoa, experiences a sense of being an outsider, navigating unfamiliar social and political terrain.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/part-i-i): Cosmo's identity as an Englishman is highlighted, while the mysterious man's national and political affiliations remain ambiguous, reflecting the displacement of individuals in a post-war Europe.
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/part-i-ii): The D'Armands, once part of the French aristocracy, now live as penniless exiles in London, their identities reshaped by displacement and loss.
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/part-i-iv): Cosmo's desire to avoid meeting anyone he knows and his observation of the changing social landscape highlight themes of identity and displacement.
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/part-ii-ii): Cosmo feels out of place in society, unsure of his own merit and awkward in company, reflecting a sense of not belonging.
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/part-ii-iii): The Marquis reflects on his family's exile and the loss of his brother, and Cosmo contemplates his own sense of belonging.
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/part-ii-iv): Count de Montevesso's background as a military adventurer who served in various armies and lived in India marks him as an outsider in European aristocratic society.
- [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/part-ii-vi): Madame de Montevesso feels out of place among the returned nobles, identifying as a Frenchwoman with liberal ideas rather than sharing their royalist hatreds and contempts.
- [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/part-ii-vii): Clelia is displaced from her village and feels like a 'brute beast' in the aristocratic society of Genoa. The old woman also expresses bewilderment at the sudden change in her life.
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/part-iii-ii): Cosmo feels out of place and without an aim, questioning his desire to travel and feeling disconnected from his former self.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/part-iv-i): Cosmo, an Englishman in Genoa, finds himself in a precarious situation, hiding from the police and uncertain of his place.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/themes/identity_and_displacement
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/themes