Lessons from Joseph Conrad's Nostromo Are Still Relevant.

"It is to be remarked that a good many people are born curiously unfitted for the fate awaiting them on this earth."
--Joseph Conrad

When I first set out to pursue a writing career I had a strong desire to write fiction, but also wrote articles. I'd decided that writing a novel was too big of an undertaking for a beginning writer who was also working full time, so I focused on writing short stories. 

To learn the storytelling craft I read and listened to short stories in the following manner.  I would use short story anthologies to identify short story writers. I would select a writer and immerse myself in his or her work, much like binging. Hemingway, Jack London, Chekov and many others were studied in this way. Joseph Conrad was among the first.

I remember taking an album out of the Hennepin County Library with several Conrad stories on it. The first that I listened to was called "The Lagoon." The descriptive prose and heartbreaking story moved me profoundly. What especially made an impression on me was that Conrad wrote in English, which was not his native tongue. In fact, English was Conrad's third language.  

Conrad wrote Nostromo in 1904, a story set in the fictional South American republic of Constaguana during a violent revolution. The title character is an Italian longshoreman who has been entrusted to safeguard a priceless silver mine that was owned by Charles Gould.

Primary themes in the novel include the corrupting influence of power and greed while also examining the impact of colonialism and imperialism on Latin America. How interesting that these themes continue to remain relevant 100 years later in a post-colonial era.

 

In the story, Nostromo is initially a respected and trustworthy figure, but he is gradually bent by the power and wealth that he gains from safeguarding the silver mine. Over time he is increasingly ruthless and dishonest, eventually becoming responsible for the deaths of many people. 

Here's a description of the novel from Amazon.com. What I found most illuminating is how much history preceded the Latin American conflicts that we've been more aware of because they happened in our lifetimes (if you're a Baby Boomer).

One of the greatest political novels in any language, Nostromo reenacts the establishment of modern capitalism in a remote South American province locked between the Andes and the Pacific. In the harbor town of Sulaco, a vivid cast of characters is caught up in a civil war to decide whether its fabulously wealthy silver mine, funded by American money but owned by a third-generation English immigrant, can be preserved from the hands of venal politicians. Greed and corruption seep into the lives of everyone, and Nostromo, the principled foreman of the mine, is tested to the limit.

Another main point that Nostromo makes is that colonialism and imperialism can have a devastating impact on the people of the colonized countries. This was a theme in Orwell's early writings in which he attempted to convey the consequences of British imperialism in India. In this novel Conrad shows how the silver mine in Costaguana is exploited by the British and other foreign interests, and how the profits from the mine benefit a small elite while the majority of the people live in poverty and squalor. This exploitation took place thoughout the New World. When we lived in Mexico we visited two cities where silver mines had been stripped bare by the Spanish, for the benefit of Spain.

Here are four takeaways from Nostromo:

1) The importance of individual responsibility and the dangers of blindly following authority.

2) The fragility of social order and the difficulty of creating lasting change.

3) The power of nature and the limitations of human control.

4) The ambiguity of good and evil and the difficulty of making moral choices in a complex world.  

"Having had to encounter single-handed during his period of eclipse many physical dangers, he was well aware of the most dangerous element common to them all: of the crushing, paralyzing sense of human littleness, which is what really defeats a man struggling with natural forces, alone, far from the eyes of his fellows."
--Joseph Conrad, Nostromo

Related
Nostromo Summary
The Mission's Pointed Questions

Excitement Reigns! The Mummy's Curse™️ Board Game

THROWBACK THURSDAY

This was originally published in August 2021. I am re-publishing it here because the game Frank Holmes and Jill Mackie created and fine-tuned is deserving of a wider audience. Board games are back. Hence, we are seeking a publisher.

While visiting fine artists Frank Holmes and Jill Mackie, I was introduced to a unique board game called The Mummy's Curse™️. It has all the elements you want in a game, including that undefinable "cool" factor. I mean, who hasn't been fascinated by the Sphinx,  Great Pyramid and mummies at one time in their lives?

Like all the best games, The Mummy's Curse is a family board game that has been designed to be easy enough for kids yet interesting enough for adults. As you can see in the photos here there's a Sphinx, a Pyramid, a Golden Mummy, and a Curse. 

The goal, if you want to play, is to break the Curse by stealing the Mummy from its Burial Chamber in the Pyramid, then getting back safely to the Start/Finish with it. To achieve this players must equip themselves with Supplies and Answer a Question from the Sphinx.

Whereas the game is an entirely new entity, it has some traditional elements, such as moving pieces around the outside rim as in Sorry or Monopoly. As in Monopoly, which has Community Chest and Chance cards, this game also has a number of cards as follows.

The Sphinx's Questions are on cards (all different) that each player receives. The answer to a Question is on two other cards that rhyme with each other and with the Question. (The Sphinx is very clever.) The cards are drawn as players roll a die and move around the outer path. Answering the Question is your primary objective.

It is equally important to gather Supplies, which you can do by landing on a Supply square and rolling a certain number. When a player has Answered the Question and gathered the necessary Supplies, the player gets to present him or herself to the Sphinx, receive Amulets and proceed to the Pyramid.

While all this is going on, Eye cards are being drawn as well. Eye cards are valuable and allow players to do many things. For example, the Freeze card allows you to stop another player for two turns. The "Go Where You Want" card lets you do just that. The "Wild Card" lets you move one to six spaces without rolling the die. And then there's the "Help Yourself" card, a nasty little maneuver that allows you to take an Answer card or Answer Rhyme from another player. Finally there's a "Supply Grant!" card, which will assist you in getting the Supplies you need the most. 

The first player to reach the Pyramid lifts it from its place and sets it on its side. Underneath is a chart which is now visible. The Chart shows which supplies are required to traverse a labyrinth-like network of paths to reach the Burial Chamber. (Who doesn't like labyrinths?) Once there, the two sarcophagi must be removed to expose the Golden Mummy. Whoever lifts the inner sarcophagi gets to take the Mummy, as well as the special Blue Amulet it rests on... and to head for the Start/Finish.

This last dash, however, is not so easy. Other players want it and may take it by landing on whoever has it. (Don't despair. You can get it back.) The Mummy can also be lost to the Curse if a certain number, established in the Burial Chamber, is rolled. Amulets, including the special one, offer protection but it's a treacherous time. The Mummy is almost certain to change hands in this final phase of the game. You may be assisted by Eye cards here, if you have held on to them. Oftentimes players who thought they were without hope come back and win. 

Created and perfected in Narrowsburg, New York

To quote Sir Winston Churchill here: "Never, never, never, never give up." 

* * * 

One of my earliest published articles, and the first for which I was paid, was titled Make a Game of It. My theme was that teaching can be fun when we use a little creativity to make a game of it. Over the years I created a number of games myself, and it was fun to see the intriguing project Frank Holmes and Jill Mackie had concocted as you can see here.

"We've played it hundreds of times," Jill said, the primary aim being continuous improvement. 

If you're a board game publisher, contact me at ennyman3@gmail.com. This is a game that's ready for prime time. 

THE STORY

Frank and Jill get the ball rolling. 1988.

Long ago in very ancient Egypt, there ruled a pharaoh who cared more for gold than anything else in the world. He put a terrible curse of greed on his people, from which they suffered greatly, fighting amongst themselves for wealth and power. When he died his mummified body was wrapped in bands of gold and buried deep within a massive pyramid--to be guarded forever by an all-knowing sphinx.

Now, many centuries later, the dreadful curse still emanates from the pharaoh's tomb and greed has enveloped the entire world--you may have noticed it yourself! The only way to end this plague of avarice is to find the golden mummy and to take it from its chamber of evil power, away from the pyramid to, according to legend, the very place the curse began.

So, players, an exciting and ennobling experience awaits you. Prepare well and honor the sphinx's demands, which will allow you to enter the pyramid. Your task is not an easy one and pitfalls await--any or all of you may succumb to the debilitating effects of greed. Whatever happens, remember your one and only goal is to break the curse!

Related Links

Veteran Painter Frank Holmes Discusses His Prix de Rome and Life as an Artist

"Paintings Now & Before: Figures, Flowers, Landscapes" and an Introduction to Jill Mackie