Most commentators agree that the changes in subject matters and modes of presentation in the tales that followed The Nigger of the “Narcissus” signal an improvement in Conrad's fiction which resulted, two years after the completion of Lord Jim, in Nostromo and the other works of his “major phase.” Thus, the shift following the end of Lord Jim is viewed as a step forward in Conrad's artistic maturity. However, the use of the word “maturity” to describe the growth of an author's creative power can often be misleading. A pear or an apple is certainly “better” when it is mature. But in the case of a human being – let alone a creative artist – there is a loss in maturity which must be taken into account. Maturity is the result of a person's realization of that loss, as Marlow well knows. What evidence is there in Conrad's works that the fiction written in the twentieth century is more mature? Did Conrad lose his initial naiveté in moving from The Nigger of the “Narcissus” to The Secret Agent? Is his characterization of the language teacher in Under Western Eyes more skillful than his presentation of Marlow in “Heart of Darkness”? Are Jim's feelings for Jewel more melodramatic than those of Nostromo for Giselle Viola in the last pages of Nostromo? These generalizations do not work.