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The evolution of Conrad's art and his choice of a setting that introduced the theme of imperialism have frequently stimulated critical interest in his first novels: Almayer's Folly (1895), An Outcast of the Islands (1896), The Rescue (begun 1895, finished 1919). These novels are connected with each other through the setting--the Malay Archipelago--,important themes, and the character of Captain Tom Lingard. They form a trilogy without having been planned as one, and they establish the pattern on which much of Conrad's work was generated and which was analogous to the process at work in the author's life when he left the sea to live by his pen: It was the Malay Archipelago with its truths about human life dimmed by the mists of its jungles and waterways that started Conrad on his career as a novelist.
Conrad's Lingard Trilogy is a study of the three Lingard novels in relation to each other. When read as a unit, the Lingard trilogy shows up details of the human reality that otherwise pass unnoticed. Transtextuality adds a second and third dimension to the outlines given by the individual novel and provides the reader with the texture and flavor of realistic experiences. Developments hidden in the covert plot of one novel are explained by those of the overt plot in another, characters gain in depth, and themes that seemed of secondary importance surface more and more and become compelling.
Two of the most hotly argued issues in recent Conrad criticism are the questions whether Conrad was fundamentally racist and sexist. A transtextual approach to the Lingard novels and lexicographical analysis of specific passages shed new light on these questions. In his "Author's Note" to Almayer's Folly, Conrad expressed his conviction that independent from geographical factors, humankind and the human condition are essentially the same in all corners of the world. If this is not a generally recognized truth, Conrad reasons, it is because of a common inability to see things correctly by distinguishing important details. Conrad's Lingard Trilogy examines the Lingard novels from the aspect of this pronouncement as regards the question of racism--to what degree does Conrad demonstrate the basic sameness of Malays, Arabs, and white colonizers?
The Lingard trilogy also shows Conrad's treatment of women in the Malay novels. Intentionally or not, Conrad illustrates the lot of indigenous women who establish relations with white men as equalling that of the colonial territory. There is an obvious incongruity between the seemingly subordinate roles assigned to those women and the determination with which they pursue their interests. They contrast with the weak-willed protagonists Almayer and Willems and with the imperceptive Lingard. In the changing fortunes of European colonialism, the Malay sustain what is typically their own. It is especially the women as bearers and guardians of the life force who ensure resilience when their people are affected by weakening influences.
The Lingard trilogy is in effect a valuable document about the role of Europe in Southeast Asia, one that is critical without allowing room for despondency. Juxtaposed to the negative representations of the past are--especially in The Rescue--intimations of alternative forms of relations between peoples for the future. The dawn that Conrad sees rising on the horizon of the imperialistic world view of his time holds a promise of the coexistence of East and West based on trust and the willingness to offer and accept forgiveness.
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