We rely on your support to help us keep producing beautiful, free, and unrestricted editions of literature for the digital age. Will you support our efforts with a donation ? James Wait is an Afro-Caribbean sailor in Bombay who enlists on the Narcissus , a trading ship bound for London. His deteriorating health soon becomes a problem for the crew, whose attention is focused on the perils of their strenuous sea voyage. The forecastle, which contains the crew's living quarters, becomes the narrative's focal point. The Nigger of the Narcissus , Joseph Conrad's third novel, was serialized in 1897 and published as a book in the same year. Due to its controversial title, it was first published in the United States as The Children of the Sea , before being published there under its original title in 1914. Its introduction is considered to be one of Conrad's most important pieces of nonfiction, as in it he explains his philosophy of writing with quotes like "My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word to make you hear, to make you feel—it is, before all, to make you see." The introduction has been employed by literary scholars as a crucial key to understanding Conrad's artistic vision. Joseph Conrad (died 1924) was a major literary figure of the early 20th century. Their work has endured across generations and continues to be read and studied worldwide. As a work of classic literary fiction, The Nigger Of The Narcissus exemplifies the narrative craft and social insight that defined great storytelling of its era. Literary fiction of this period was characterized by careful attention to character psychology, social milieu, and the moral questions that animated public discourse.