The moral of each story is an ethical decision may never have a right answer. Conrad and Joyce portray a moral lesson in a very similar way. In each story the main characters, the commanding officer and James Duffy, look back on moments in their life and regret the decisions they have made. The commanding officer in “The Tale” decides an entire ships fate by directing them off cliffs, consequently the captain of the ship and his crew die. The commanding officer states, “That course would lead the Northman straight on a deadly ledge of rock. And the commanding officer gave it to him” (Conrad 17). The main character of “The Tale” is aware of the importance of his decision and questions whether or not it was the wisest choice. He contemplates with this and it effects him on an emotional level. At the beg

Both men find themselves in moral binds, although these binds are of different character each ends up regretting or questioning the choice they made. The commanding officer has made a decision without any solid evidence to make others including him trust that his choice was right. Duffy on the other hand was very selfish in his choice to separate himself from society and the only companion he ever new. He chose his friends fate by returning to the comfort of his old ways. As a result of each characters choices they must live in question. Were the Commanding Officers suspicions accurate? Was Duffy’s friend going to turn to the bottle in the end no matter what? These are the questions that Joyce and Conrad want us to ask ourselves when we complete “The Tale” and “A Painful Case”.

inning of “The Tale” the women (who is never given a name) requests he tell a tale like he used to before the war. She states, “You used to tell- your- your simple and professional- tales very well at one time…you had sort of art- in the days- the days before the war” (Conrad 2). This statement supplies the reader with evidence that the commanding officer is a changed man since the war and foreshadows that the story will not be like his old “simple” stories. Throughout the story the commanding officer battles with his instinct to decide whether or not to believe the Northman. He continually asks himself why the Northman did not sound his horn when they entered the bay, and why the Northman’s voice and expressions continually change. The commanding officer never finds hard evidenc

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