"The Shadow Line" - a short novel based at sea - was first published in 1916. It depicts the development of a young man upon taking a captaincy in the Orient, with the shadow line of the title representing the threshold of this development. Conrad also extensively uses irony by comparison in the work, with characters such as Captain Giles and the ship’?s "factotum" Ransome used to emphasise strengths and weaknesses of the protagonist.