The Secret Sharer essays

The Secret Sharer essays In Joseph Conrads novel The Secret Sharer a moral can be identified that touches on the premises of finding and identifying ones dual personalities in order to establish ones character. Conrads novel explores the possibility that everyone has a binary personality and that to really be true to ones self, they must recognize and give in to this possibility. In The Secret Sharer, the Captain, the protagonist, finds a naked man clinging to the side ladder of his ship. The man, Leggatt, is a runaway from his ship the Sephora due to the fact that he accidentally killed a crew member in a bad storm. The reader learns that the Captain has just recently acquired his position and that he is not respected by his crew because of his strangeness to them and the ship. Like the Captain, the man that he finds, Leggatt, is a stranger. The two men share many qualities, and the Captain refers to Leggatt throughout the work as his second self. Conrad stresses the idea that Leggatt is the captains double. The Captain dressing Leggatt in one of his own sleeping suits is the first resemblance the reader sees between the two characters. Then the reader learns that both men are young, both hold (or held in Leggatts case) posts of importance that they acquired through their connections, both are Conway boys, a boy sailor that has been trained on the Britis h battleship Conway, both are isolated from their respective crews, both save a ship during a dangerous event (Leggatt saved his during a storm and the Captain saves his while letting Leggatt escape) , and both eventually set out for new destinies. Each man offers something to his double. The Captain offers Leggatt a place to hide and a chance to escape, and Leggatt, by his escape, forces the Captain to take charge of his crew and prove himself a worthy captain. Leggatt is figuratively a part of the Captain that he doesn&...