"The Lagoon" is a short story by Joseph Conrad composed in 1896 and first published in Cornhill Magazine in 1897. The story is about a white man, referred to as "Tuan", who is travelling through an Indonesian rainforest and is forced to stop for the night with a distant Malay friend named Arsat. Upon arriving, he finds Arsat distraught, for his lover is dying. Arsat tells the distant and rather silent white man a story of his past.
Plot
Tuan hops aboard a boat to visit a long-lost friend named Arsat. When he meets Arsat, he finds out his wife, Diamelen, is dying. Arsat then tells him a story, starting with the time when he and his brother kidnapped Diamelen. They all fled in a boat at night and traveled until they were exhausted. They stopped on a bit of land jutting out into the water to rest. Soon however, they spotted a large boat of the Rajah's men coming to find them. Arsat's brother told Diamelen and Arsat to flee to the other side, where there was a fisherman's hut. He instructed them to take the fisherman's boat and then stayed back, telling them to wait for him while he dealt with the pursuers. Arsat then starts pushing the boat from shore, leaving his brother behind. He then sees his brother running down the path, being chased by the pursuers. Arsat's brother tripped and the enemy was upon him. His brother got up, then called out to him three times, but Arsat never looked back. The pursuers killed his brother and Arsat had betrayed his brother for the woman he loved, who was now dying. Towards the end of the story, symbolically, the sun rises and Diamelen dies. With Diamelen's death, Arsat has nothing because he lost his brother and wife. He now had nothing. After Diamelen's death, he tells Tuan he plans to return to his home village to avenge his brother's death. The story concludes with "Tuan"s simply leaving, and Arsat's staring dejectedly into the sun and "a world of illusion".
Analysis
The story is full of symbols and contrasts - such as the use of dark/light, black/white, sunrise/sunset, water/fire, and possibly the most important one, movement/stillness. Arsat's clearing is still, nothing moves, yet everything outside the clearing moves. Earlier in the story, his brother tells Arsat that he is only half of a man for Diamelen has his heart and he is not whole. With Diamelen's death, Arsat becomes a whole man again. At the end of the story, motion finally enters Arsat's clearing. The movement signifies his leaving of "a world of illusion" and the fact that Arsat is finally a "free man". In the story, darkness represents ignorance and denial, whereaslight represents enlightenment.
Character Analysis
The White Man The Role He Plays In the story the white man is a listener, and non judgemental face for the audience to observe the mist trials and tribulations that Arat has faced. This is why he remains unnamed only being referred to as a stranger to this new place, or being referred to as “Tuan,” by your long time associate Arsat. Physically In the story the white man is referred to as “Tuan,” by Arsat his long time associate. Given the description and the natives view on him we can assume that The White Man is a foreigner in a new place who have never seen his kind before. Emotionally The White Man listens to Arsat’s story in a non-judgmental manner. Offering kindness and clarity in Arsat’s time of confusion, tragedy, and loss. Arsat Emotionally Arsat is a lost soul, who wishes to share his story, who wishes to be listened to and heard. After the loss of his brother and his wife he has nothing left to do nobody else to turn to so he turns to you, or The White Man. A listener a non judgemental face to listen to him.
