The Rescue · Chapters

Chapters explained

Chapter companions for The Rescue by Joseph Conrad.

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Chapter 1
Epigraph
The chapter opens with an epigraph from Chaucer's 'The Franklin's Tale', a quote expressing disbelief and lamentation at an unexpected and monstrous occurrence.
Chapter 2
Dedication
The dedication page of the book, inscribing the tale to Frederic Courtland Penfield, the last American ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in gratitude for his rescue of distressed travelers during the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
Chapter 3
Author’s Note
In this Author’s Note, Joseph Conrad reflects on the long interruption of his novel 'The Rescue,' which waited twenty years to be completed. He discusses the reasons for setting it aside, including doubts about his prose and the need to focus on other works like 'The Nigger of the Narcissus.' He describes the eventual return to the story, driven by sentiment and a sense of obligation to the characters who had waited for him.
Chapter 4
The Rescue
The chapter opens the narrative of 'The Rescue,' setting the stage for a romance of the shallows. It introduces the world and the circumstances that will bring the characters together, focusing on the sea and the stranded yacht.
Chapter 5
Part I: The Man and the Brig
The opening chapter sets the scene in the Malay Archipelago, a region steeped in adventure and colonial history. It reflects on the struggles of native peoples against Western powers and introduces the figure of a true adventurer—a man of high mind and pure heart—who, unlike the obscure seamen-traders, is remembered with veneration. The narrative contrasts the noble, disinterested adventurer with the forgotten, lawless traders who lived and died for a cause that progress has rendered obsolete.

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Epigraph

Dedication

Author’s Note

The Rescue

Part I: The Man and the Brig