The End of the Tether

Captain Whalley, an aging and once-prosperous sea captain, is struggling to maintain his dignity and livelihood in his twilight years. Whalley owns a share in a rundown steamer, the Sofala, and is committed to fulfilling a contract to support his blind daughter. Joseph Conrad's novella is a profound meditation on parental endurance and the decline that comes with old age, set against the backdrop of the unforgiving sea. JOSEPH CONRAD [1857–1924] was born in Ukraine to Polish parents, went to sea at the age of seventeen, and ended his career as a captain in the English merchant navy. His most famous work is the novella Heart of Darkness [1899], adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola in 1979 as Apocalypse Now.