As you read Joseph Conrad’s short story “The Lagoon” pay special attention to the writing style of the author. Notice the way Conrad uses descriptive imagery to set the mood for this piece. Also notice how the setting of the story seems to be reflected in the morals and values of the characters in the story.
Conrad is known for using a narrative technique in which he has a story being told within a story. Is there a benefit to this type of narration? Did this cause confusion?
Pay attention to language and word choice in the text; do you think Conrad’s bias contributes to a reader’s bias in the reading.
Lastly, as you read the introduction, it is stated that Conrad’s main characters and readers arrive at a “moral discovery” at the climax of the writing. Describe what you think the moral discovery is in “The Lagoon”.
Please post any comments or questions you have about the story as you read. Posts should be about one paragraph in length and should show the quality of work expected in an AP course.
Conrad's unique style of narration is at first more confusing than it is helpful. Yet, by putting a story in a story it allows the reader to get a better understanding of the inner story and characters. While reading there is a very strong negative bias towards white people. However, this doesn't hurt the work as a whole or affect the bias of the reader. The overall moral of the story appeared to be that love is powerful and if someone abandons one to be with another there will be loss.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I didn't really find such a problem with Joseph Conrad's descriptive style. It did not exasperate me nor bore me. Instead I found it helped to immerse me within his setting. Without his lengthy descriptions of all the sights and sounds of the jungle river around him I might not have gotten such a beautiful mental picture. Personally, I prefer authors with descriptive styles and strive to write that way myself.
ReplyDeleteI was not at all confused with the story-within-a-story technique. I found it was well-done and easy to distinguish. It helped to make the characters more human, since normal speech with old friends generally will include some story-telling. This is especially true when there is a dying woman needing explaining.
The moral seemed to me that one should be true to his own family first and that one has no control over the course of nature. In choosing to steal a woman despite the risks, the man put himself in a situation where he and his brother faced death. A true, loyal man, the brother decided to help. And in the end, he chose to put his mate above his brother. His death was principally the man's fault. Also- the sickness that struck the girl so soon after he sacrificed his brother, his safety, and his social status for was completely out of his control. Nature had its way. He could do nothing. Perhaps it was a nod to the idea of karma.
I agree with Kristina, I thought that having a story within a story was confusing at first, but once you understood what was going on it gave you more insight to what the main story was about. I also agree with Christine, I liked the was that he was so descriptive. You could really picture what was going on in your mind and it was helpful. I think that the moral discovery of the story is learning that you shouldn't abandon your family for anything, especially for a girl, because in the end you will just regret it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there is a benefit in showing a narrative because it is like a story within a story. It's kind of like the idea of inception having dreams inside other dreams. It was actually pretty confusing at some points because it is hard to detect if it goes away from the narrative or is still the person telling the story. I did notice that there was a little bias. I agree with Kristina that it was a negativity towards white people. The moral of the story to me was that family comes first. Siblings will always be there for you and will always love you. Girls or friends could sometimes not be there for you when necessary or could eventually not love you for who you are anymore.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning, I will admit that the extensive vocabulary bored me. Perhaps it had to do with the trying to rush yet comprehend the story while in class, but I didn't really try to imagine and picture what he was writing as hard as I could have.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, the technique of telling a story inside of another story was indeed beneficial.
It helped to provide foreshadowing for the present section of the story. It also includes emotion, that guides the reader into a bias that the writer is trying to share.
The climax of "The Lagoon," to me, is when the brother, in the past story, is running from the villagers they were trying to escape. He yells for his brother, the one he can trust and love, and his brother never turns to help. The sun shines over the horizon, and fades as if it never happened, thus foreshadowing the death of the girl he loved and saved, over his brother.
The story within a story narrative didn't bother me too much. It reminded me of Inception, which is one of my favorite movies, so I sort of enjoyed it. Moreover, I thought Conrad managed to guide the reader through the two main narratives of the story fairly easily by using quotation marks and punctuation, as previously stated by Christine. This is much different from the extensive use of descriptive imagery, which often left me distracted from the rest of the story, and forced me to go back and reread an entire paragraph. I agree with Kenzie about the climax of the story being when the brother is left to die, and also about the change in the setting symbolizing the death of both the brother and the girl. In addition, the setting in a more general sense also adds to the plot. The story is set in a Southeast Asian atmosphere, which made the idea of karma fairly prevalent. The setting acts as character, as mentioned in class, by having general characteristics that add to the plot, as well as more specific intricacies that become noticeable when you peel back the layers of the story, making the setting that much more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think that the narration was neat once I fully understood the concept and I quite enjoy Ian's comparison of it with dreams in inception. A bit of bias existed throughout but I don't think it was too big of a deal, or that it could be offensive or affect the reader's bias. One moral of the story could be, as a few people suggested, that family should rise above any love interests because ones' family will always be there for them, like his brother was for him...it's just too bad he couldn't return the favor. Another moral could be that one can not escape death. He chose to leave his brother to die and thus, ended up with a dead ''lover''. I suppose one last moral could be that your choices affect you, your future, and those around you so choose carefully and "morally" :P
ReplyDeleteConrad's type of narrative was interesting and is still a new concept for me. i did not find his style of narration to be at all confusing, but more so helpful as to show the entire picture of what the real moral is about.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that Conrad's bias will influence the reader. A bias in a book will bet the reader to think the way the author does. When a certain viewpoint is presented, most individuals will attempt to make their views similar, for it is only human nature to adapt to be like the rest.
In "the Lagoon", I believe that the moral discovery is that relationships can come and go at the blink of an eye, but your family will always be there for you an will help you achieve your goals to the best of their abilities, even if they might not want to.