SG: "The Lagoon" (Joseph Conrad)

They want nothing to do with Arsat because he chose to stay in a place they felt was haunted and dangerous.

Why do the members of the white man’s crew want nothing to do with Arsat?

The images of stillness, darkness, and silence set a paralyzing and suffocating tone.

What important images set the tone in the opening descriptions of the lagoon?

Arsat's wife is sick.

What does the white man discover when he reaches Arsat’s clearing?

He was killed by the soldiers from their old country.

What happened to Arsat’s brother?

Arsat says he will go back and save his brother.

At the end of the story, what does Arsat say he will do?

No

Does the White man see Arsat as a human?

Arsat's

Whose emotions are more prevalent in the story?

They were both soldiers.

How are Arsat and the White man similar?

Diamelen dying because she's no longer burning.

What events in the story are paralleled by the “conflagration of sunset”?

Arsat confesses that he turned his back on his dying brother.

What events in the story are paralleled by the rattling of the palm trees?

Arsat is realizing that achieving peace in life is an illusion that will never be achieved. This is why he now knows he has to go back for his brother because he was never going to achieve peace.

When, following Diamelen’s death, Arsat says “I can see nothing,” the white man says, “There is nothing.” What is meant by this remark? How might it relate to the final line of the story?

Frame tale

A tale within a tale

Imagery

visually descriptive or figurative language

Mood

inducing or suggestive of a particular feeling or state of mind

Loyalty to his brother, his country, and Diamelen.

What are Arsat's three conflicting loyalties?

Doubt

What does the white man cause in Arsat's story?

That it would have been better for him to die with honor.

What does Arsat decide by the end of the story?

No.

Did Arsat acknowledge his brother before leaving him to die?