How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"'The beggar clung to me like a drowning man,' he said impressively. [...] It flashed upon me it was enough to start a panic, and I hauled off with my free arm and slung the lamp in his face. The glass jingled, the light went out, but the blow made him let go, and I ran off [...]." (8.4)
This is one of the most violent episodes in the book. We get a strong sense of how Jim views this foreign "beggar" with contempt and even anger in his all-consuming panic, as if the beggar is not worth his time.
Quote #5
"To some further questions he jerked his spare shoulders, and declared it never came into his mind then that the white men were about to leave the ship through fear of death. He did not believe it now. There might have been secret reasons." (8.19)
This scene pretty much sums up the book's theme of foreigners and the "other." It's both fascinating and horrifying that this "native" man would refuse to believe that "white men" had behaved dishonorably. That gentlemanly propaganda that Brierly seems so invested in definitely appears to be working here. And the scene gives us a new angle on how much of a potential impact Jim's actions had. Jim seems to have practically jeopardized the entire empire, which depended on "white men" appearing superior to the "natives" they controlled.
Quote #6
"'These people were beginning to agitate themselves – Parbleu! A mob like that – don't you see?' he interjected with philosophic indulgence." (12.18)
The Frenchman spouts off one of the book's many casually racist references. Here he describes the native "mob" onboard the Patna as dangerous, reinforcing a stereotype of non-white people as emotionally volatile and uncivilized.