Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad

Born December 3, 1857 in Berdichev, Imperial Russia. His parents were Polish,  Apollo and Evelina. He was an English writer after settling in England. He was known for one of the greatest English writers of all time, but he didn't speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties. His novels were about depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of an indifferent universe.

Early Life and Background
His parents, Apollo and Evelina were Polish patriots. Their family moved a lot and Joseph never got close to anyone. His parents schemed against oppressive Russian rule.For breaking the law, they were both arrested and sent to live in Volgda in the Russian providence along with Joseph when he was four. His parents had died a few years later. When Joseph was 11, he then became an orphan. He was then raised by his uncle in Poland. He attended a private school in Krakow. When he was of age 16, school and went to port city of Marseilles, France.



His Career at Sea
Conrad left Poland in 1874 and he went to go start a career on the sea. He had spent four years in France and on some French ships. While he was in France, Conrad learned the basics of seamanship. After being in France, he then went to be a British merchant marine Years later, the man became observer for pilot boats. He worked on the boats and was a crew member, but he then became a third mate, second mate, first mate, and then finally got captain's rank. The people he met or heard about on the ship, he then later wrote about them in his novels. After landing to sea, he kept writing his stories and soon adventured out to the English port and eventually met two women. He failed to marry them, then journeyed off to England. He spent up to 19 years in his merchant career, but only half of it was spent out on ther water.

His Career as a Writer
Conrad began writing at Sea, but he didn't make a career out of it until 1895. He published his first novel, Almayer's Folly, which was about an adventure in the Borneo jungles. He then wrote two more novels that became really famous. He wrote Lorde Jimin 1900, about a sailor who was a follower all of his life, but began to grow out of it to become South Seas country. His other novel was, Heart of Darkness in 1902,

2, about a British man who takes a journey to the Congo of Africa and meets a European named Kurt."Heart of Darkness" is symbolizing the dark continent of Africa. It describes people and the life he had

out on the sea, the emotions and feelings that he had were meant to think about. Joseph Conrad had a specific character in his book, named Kurtz. Kurtz was a first class agent and he was a great friend to him during his time that he spent out at sea. This book is one of the most greatest books in British literature. Joseph Conrad had become known as one of the greatest English novelists out there.

Romantic Friendship, Marriage, and Family
Joseph Conrad was friends with a man named Gabriel Renouf, who was a Captain of the French merchant marine. Conrad met the family of Renouf's brother-in-law. When Conrad was in Port Louis, he asked one of the Renouf brothers if he could marry their sister. Their sister was named Eugenie and she was 26 years old. Sadly, Eugenie was already engaged to a cousin of hers. After Conrad was aware of this, he never paid another visit to them. Conrad was nice enough to write a letter and send it to them, telling them that he would never come back.

This did not stop Conrad from ever giving up on finding love because, March of 1896, Conrad married an English woman named Jessie George. Jessie was 16 years younger than Joseph. she was an inexperience working-class women. Joseph's friends didn't understand why he chose Jessie as his wife. They would make rude comments about his wife. Later, Joseph and Jessie had two kids that were both boys. They named them Borys and John, Borys was the oldest one. Borys was not an honest boy and didn't have much knowledge. Joseph and Jessie rented a chain of some good homes that were in France. Sometimes, they went to live in London, but they loved living in the country side to have some peace, quiet, and they could afford it. They took a few vacations to France and Italy, and in 1923 they went to the United States, but he lived most his life in England.

In 1914, their family also took a vacation and went to Poland. When they went to Poland on the 28th of July, World War 1 began. Their family about got stuck in the middle of a battle in a City that was close to the Russian border. Jessie and their youngest son John was getting sick, so they went to a town called, Zakopane. After they got to Zakopane, they moved to a place called, Konstantynowka. It was ran by Conrad's cousin, Aniela Zagorska. Many celebrities had come and visited this place and Conrad's cousin introduced him to a few Polish writers, intellectuals, and artists.

Death
Joseph Conrad died Augest 3rd, in 1924. He had a heart attack at his at his house in Kent, England. They gave him a Roman Catholic service at St. Thomas's. Joseph Conrad had a big crowd among his funeral. He was buried at the Westgate Court Avenue in Canterbury Cemetery. His Polish name, "Joseph Teador Conrad Korzeniowski", was carved into his gravestone along with the lines from Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene. It reads, ''"Sleep After Toyle, Port After Stormie Seas, Ease After Warre, Death After Life Does Greatly Please". ''After twelve years of Joseph Conrad's death, his wife Jessie died on December 6th of 1936. They had buried Jessie with Joseph. The last novel that Joseph had wrote was, " The Rover".