Conrad's view of his own works and of the works of writers which he admired was a very complex thing. On one side he had the opinion that only the artist was able to create the 'real reality' in the way that it was his part to put a literary meaning into the event; on the other hand he doubted everything, even his own well-considered words. In this point he did hardly believe in any thoughts or formulation. Not only his own words 'I have never learned to trust it. I can't trust it to this day. A dreadful doubt hangs over the whole achievement of literature' are proof for this. A quote from the painter Berthé Morisot (1841 - 1895) could fit here even better and might give an indication about his doubts. She had said:

‘My own ambition was limited to wanting to capture something of what goes by,

just something, the smallest thing.

And yet, this ambition is excessive.'

This ambivalence in Conrad's point of view remained an important subject throughout his life as a writer. Also he was quite aware of this situation. His idea was to produce a work to make us see, as already mentioned ... 'my task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel - it is, above all, to make you see', but 'in a measure explain the aim of the attempt.'

Conrad was the producer as well as the sharpest critic in one person.

'Youth' and 'Tales of Unrest' are stories from this period, while he often tried to work on the text of 'The Rescue' - and often put it aside. This text was not to be finished before 1919. But his ambivalent thoughts - and his doubts - are true for almost all of his work.