The Secret Sharer and Heart of Darkness, two of Joseph Conrad’s more well-known novellas, share striking similarities in theme, plot, character development, and symbolism. Each novella presents a seafaring first-person narrator who struggles psychologically with the concept of darkness and other deep themes. “Heart of Darkness is one of literature’s most somber fictions. It explores the fundamental questions about human nature: the capacity for evil, the necessity of restraint, the effects of isolation, and the necessity of relinquishing pride to achieve spiritual salvation” (Haskin). Conrad explores his major theme of human duality in both of his works.
Character doubling is a key element to both works, and this tool allows Conrad to explore good and evil. The Secret Sharer’s Captain refers to Leggatt as his double frequently, and Leggatt “must have looked exactly as I [the Captain] used to look” (Conrad, The Secret Sharer 13). The Captain becomes obsessed with his doppelgänger, who he pulls up on deck in the Gulf of Siam, despite the fact that Leggatt explains that he has murdered a man on the Sephora, his previous ship.
Doubling, in the physical and moral sense, is found throughout “The Secret Sharer.” The young captain and Leggatt are so similar that they seem to be twins, an identification that Conrad clearly intends the reader to take in more than one sense. Both men feel themselves to be outcasts — Leggatt actually so, because of his crime, the captain, psychologically, because of his newness to the ship and its crew. Leggatt can be regarded as the alter ego of the captain, perhaps a reflection of the darker, even criminal, aspects of the captain’s personality. Some readers have argued that Leggatt does n...
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... any case, both novellas, whose titles have much significance, explore humankind’s capacity for evil. Conrad’s The Secret Sharer and Heart of Darkness quite obviously explore the same themes, using very similar plots.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. "Heart of Darkness." 1899. Project Gutenberg. Web. February 2012.
—. "The Secret Sharer." 1912. Electronic Text Center. Web. February 2012.
Haskin, Wayne E. "Heart of Darkness." Masterplots 4. (November 2010): 1-4. Literary Reference Center. Web. 25 March 2012.
Perel, Zivah. "Transforming the Hero: Joseph Conrad's Reconfiguring of Masculine Identity in "The Secret Sharer"." Conradiana 36.1-2. (Spring/Summer 2004): 112-129. Literary Reference Center. Web. 25 March 2012.
Witkoski, Michael. "The Secret Sharer." Magill's Survey of World Literature. (January 2009): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 25 March 2012.
Watts, Cedric. 'Heart of Darkness.' The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad. Ed. J.H. Stape. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 45-62.
Bausch, Richard, and R. V. Cassill. "Heart of Darkness." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 126-86. Print.
...o, while the novella’s archetypal structure glorifies Marlow’s domination of Kurtz. These two analyses taken together provide a much fuller and more comprehensive interpretation of the work. Conrad presents the idea that there is some darkness within each person. The darkness is is inherited and instinctual, but because it is natural does not make it right. He celebrates – and thereby almost advises – the turn from instinct. By telling Marlow’s tale, Joseph Conrad stresses to his audience the importance of self-knowledge and the unnecessity of instinct in civilization.
The myth of Orpheus and his descent into the underworld is paralleled in Joseph Conrad's "The Secret Sharer," revealing a common theme, the narrator's self-fulfillment through the conclusion of his symbolic and inward quest. This parallel, which may be called archetypal, serves to increase the reader's sense of identification with Conrad's narrator, and it lends an otherworldly tone to the work as a whole. Likewise, these echoes of Orphic material lead the reader through three stages. These are a modern and secular rendition of the descent into the unknown, followed by a symbolic rebirth or rejoining of the fractured portions of the complete self, and finally the parting with the previous 'self' that ostensibly existed in the initial state.
Conrad, Joseph. "Heart of Darkness." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams et al. 6th ed. vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1993. 1759-1817.
John Mayer, an American personality psychologist, who majors on personality issues, explains on the negative and positive sides of character traits by proposing that the negative one is based on unreasonable, timid, and apprehensive attributes, while the positive side concerns logical courageous, and gallant traits. It is important that a person identifies his or her different characteristics, and try to balance them so as to avoid getting various mental aberrations. “The Secret Sharer” is a story about a sailor with two-sided personality attributes as narrated by Joseph Conrad. In order for the audience to comprehend about distinct identities, Conrad incorporates the theme doppelganger in his story. According to the story, a young captain possesses a cowardly character, which is not good for a captain commanding a sailing ship. People who are meant to “lead others or be their boss should have fearless, heroic, and domineering characters” (Mayer 215). Due to his uneasy character, the captain first refuses to introduce himself to Leggat who he saves from the sea. The narrator states that "I thought the time had come to declare myself ‘I am the captain’” (Conrad 2). The statement shows that the captain is reluctant to reveal himself because he is aware of his spineless nature, given that he is the captain. According to Mayer, “Most people who possess leadership positions with weak character traits are often afraid to disclose their status to others” (Mayer 273). As the two sailors talk about their experiences, the captain starts to change his current personality and acquire that of Leggatt. The raconteur asserts that "I had become so connected in thoughts and impressions with the secret sharer of my cabin that I felt as if I, personally, were being given to understand that I, too, was not the sort that would have done for the chief mate of a ship like the Sephora. I had no doubt of it in my
When writers write, it is often to convey a deeper meaning or truth to it readers. With this in mind, we should first take the book at face value then analysis the story to see the point that the writer revels. In The Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad does this very well. The story goes from what we originally thought as just a story of a journey into Africa to a story of indeed a journey to the hearts of men. Conrad’s truth in The Heart of Darkness is multi-layered in dealing with imperialism and colonialism, but leads us to a critique of humanity as a whole. The biggest issue that Conrad shows in this book, is his philosophy of the dark nature of man. This paper will explore the evidence for the nature of man theory and then look at the proposed solution subtlety given by Conrad.
The most obvious contrast found in Heart of Darkness is between that of light and dark. In the beginning of the novel when the sun set upon London, the city began to light up yet the narrator describes the light as a "lurid glare under the stars" (Conrad 6). The lights from the city illuminated the Thames River. Because London is described as being light, the light then symbolizes civilization, or at least Conrad's view of civilization. Conrad's view of civilization is one of great despise. Civilization is a place where evil is ever present but ignored and people believe they know everything. The light is the knowledge that we have gained through exploration and the civilizing of places that have not yet been civilized. In contrast there is the darkness. Represented in the novel by Africa and the Congo River, the darkness is the evil that lurks in the unknown. The darkness is full of savages and cannibals. It is the uncivilized and uninhabited part of the world where people eat people and the savages lurk in the trees and in the darkness. Africa is the "heart of darkness," the place where man's inner evil is brought out in the open and is displayed through their thoughts and actions, such as those on Marlow's boat, letting the bullets fly into the jungle without reason or need.
Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness, A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism , ed. Ross C. Murfin. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989.
Many of Conrad's critics, most notably Albert J. Guerard , Robert W. Stallmann , have taken the view that Leggatt, of the novella "The Secret Sharer," is either some sort of symbol of the captain's dark side, a kind of role model for the captain, or that he is part of the captain. In this essay I will first examine the captain's portrayal of Leggatt, then argue that Leggatt is none of these, rather, he is a complete person in and of himself, and not simply part of the captain's personality deficiencies.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness 3rd Ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical, 1988.
* Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness” in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, M.H. Abrams, general editor. (London: W.W. Norton, 1962, 2000)
Watts, Cedric. Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: A Critical and Contextual Discussion. Milan: Mursia International, 1977.
"SparkNotes: Heart of Darkness: Themes, Motifs & Symbols." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. .
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical, 1988.