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Jim's Sense of Guilt is Followed by Consolation
Summary
Jim told Marlow that, for a while, he thought of committing suicide due to the act of cowardice of leaving the boat to perish with all the pilgrims. However, when he was pondering over punishing himself, an idea occurred to him that if he had been on the ship, it would not have been possible to save the ship. Finally, he would have met his end, thus it was quite justified to leave the ship in order to save his own life, as anybody was expected to do the same, under such circumstances. He should not have felt ashamed of leaving the ship to its perilous destiny. He thought that his future lay before him and he should wait for another chance to prove himself as a romantic hero, but the next time, he would not do anything to feel guilty.
Analysis
Jim's justification of his own act and his optimism, that emerges from pessimism, is quite interesting.