Joseph Conrad 
The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’ (Annotated) 

• This edition includes the following editor’s introduction: The importance of water in the literature of Joseph Conrad

First published in 1897 as
The Children of the Sea, ‘The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’” (
AKA The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’: A Tale of the Forecastle) is a maritime novella by Polish-British author Joseph Conrad. Controversy surrounding the use of the word nigger in the title led not only to the altered US title in 1897, but to the 2009 version
The N-Word of the Narcissus.



‘The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’” narrates the story of James Wait, a dying West Indian black sailor on board the merchant ship
Narcissus, on which he finds passage from Bombay to London. All life on board the
Narcissus revolves around Wait. Other members of the crew include the strong Captain Allistoun; Craik, an Irish religious fanatic; and Donkin, an arrogant, lazy Cockney. The superstitious sailors cater to Wait, even steal food for him, and rescue him when the ship capsizes during a fierce storm. However, he is also the cause of dissension aboard ship, leading to a near mutiny…



“The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’” captured the late-Victorian era’s maritime obsession and identified the strikingly original talent of Joseph Conrad as a sea writer in what has proved to be a landmark of sea literature. Because of the novella’s superb quality, many critics have placed it as the best work of Conrad’s early period.