The contrasts of light and darkness, of land and sea, of innocence and experience common to Conrad's work are present in a vibrant way in Chance.

Conrad's use of dialogue and physical description are also well-established techniques used in this work to great advantage. What is missing, however, is his generally poetic tone. In part, the change in tone is attributable to the necessity Marlow feels to explain each phase of the history he relates, which he is part of, and which he helps to change. The burden of narration, of storytelling, outweighs the tendency to brooding reflection and analysis characteristic of the earlier Marlow and Conrad. The narrative technique is a discontinuous narrative told over several meetings to the unnamed listener.

Conrad then weaves the narratives of the Fynes, Powell, and Flora into Marlow's story, which moves back and forth in time over a period of several...