The opening chapters of Lord Jim make reference to three distinct moments in time: the apparent present time of Jim's employment as a water-clerk, a continuous span of years in the past from the time he leaves home to his shipping aboard the Patna, and a moment that seems to be in the future, when he will leave the seaside and venture into the Malay forest. The as-yet-unnamed narrator, whom we will meet in Chapter 4, …showed first 75 words of 2221 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2221 total…in Jim's story something that's not there. Once again in this section, people approach Marlow seeking to access Jim. Marlow is, of course, the sole point of connection between "just Jim" and "Lord Jim," the only person who has contact with him in both his Patna and his Patusan days. Jim may feel secure in his new little world, but the fact that people are constantly turning to Marlow for information should make him nervous.