The Rover

Abstract

The Rover, which Conrad wrote between December 1921 and June 1922, was the last story he was to complete. The core of its plot is a situation closely similar to that of The Rescue, which in turn has much in common with the closing section of Lord Jim. In all three cases a wandering seaman becomes involved with affairs on a remote coast which is, to him, a place of retreat or retirement, a “shore of refuge”, as it is called in The Rescue. In each case the hero’s existence on this shore is disturbed by the arrival from the sea of a group of potentially hostile strangers: Brown and his pirates, Travers and his white companions, and the English sailors. Yet in each case the hero is also obliged to accept responsibility for the safe withdrawal of these intruders, even at great risk to himself and his local schemes. Just as Jim guarantees Brown’s retreat and Lingard undertakes to negotiate the release of Travers and D’Alcacer, so Peyrol conceals the captive Symons from those ashore and abets his secret escape back to the British ship.