I loved Conrad's stories for several reasons. First, because I was impressed by the fact that English was his third language. Second, because they were deep. He found ways to touch deep parts of our inner lives by making vivid the psychological complexity of his characters. Third, his descriptions were so alive and the writing beautiful. You could easily tell he had experienced the settings where his stories took place---a South Pacific island or Congo backwater or, in this case, a sailing vessel in the South Seas.
This story is told in first-person by a young, unnamed captain taking command of his first ship. Only later did I learn that "The Secret Sharer" is based partly on a real shipboard tragedy and partly on Conrad’s personal memories of himself commanding a vessel for the first time, which makes the story so real, even though that's not precisely what the story is about. By combining those two sources, Conrad created a psychological sea tale about leadership, responsibility, and something bigger.
That "something bigger" is the nature of human nature. When I myself read "The Secret Sharer" I saw the story as a metaphor for our "two selves," the one that is hidden and the other that is known. This "house divided" cannot stand, thus the story is includes the question of how to bring resolution to this inner conflict.
As the story begins we learn that narrator is captain of a ship at port in the Gulf of Siam. Across the way there is another ship anchored called The Sephora. We quickly learn this our hero's first command as captain. He's quite young for such responsibilities, still in his twenties, and this story is essentially a rite of passage, his personal initiation into leadership.
The night before departure he instructs the crew to knock off early so they'll be rested for the voyage. The mates obey, but think it a curious thing for the captain to take the night watch in this manner. What happens next is even more curious. In the dark he goes to pull up the ladder but it seems stuck on something. When he looks, it startles him to see what appears to be a headless man holding on to the bottom rung of the ladder.
As he hung by the ladder, like a resting swimmer, the sea lightning played about his limbs at every stir; and he appeared in it ghastly, silvery, fishlike. He remained as mute as a fish, too. He made no motion to get out of the water, either. It was inconceivable that he should not attempt to come on board, and strangely troubling to suspect that perhaps he did not want to. And my first words were prompted by just that troubled incertitude.
He goes on to say...
I had somehow the impression that he was on the point of letting go the ladder to swim away beyond my ken—mysterious as he came. But, for the moment, this being appearing as if he had risen from the bottom of the sea.
In reading this I was immediately given the impression that this "bottom of the sea" was a metaphor for his subconscious self.
The man (his name is Leggatt) is invited to come aboard and the captain rushes off to get him clothes so that they are dressed alike and even look alike, Leggatt himself being in his twenties as well. As they talk, we learn that Leggatt shares the same education and background. The captain calls him his double, so there is no mistaking the meaning of this character.
But we also, the captain and reader, learn that Leggatt is a fugitive. He killed a man while serving as first mate on the Sephora. The young captain listens to the man's account of the incident. The chief mate, refusing to follow orders to secure a sail, put the Sephora at risk and with it the safety of all aboard. In short, though Leggatt saved the ship he was locked up for the crime.
Feeling the crime may have been justified, the narrator of this tale hides his double in his own quarters. They each share their personal stories and consider how things will unfold as a result of this unplanned, unlikely twist of fate.
So begins a tale fraught with tension, first because this is also a test of the captain's own ability to lead. And then there's the stress generated by having to conceal this secret from the crew. The story is a perfect setup to address themes of isolation, the duality of the self, courage, and the struggle to assert authority.
As the story unfolds the screws tighten, but as in life, stress reveals who we are and what we're really made of. This is the heart of the story.
* * *
Joseph Conrad had been working on the political novel Under Western Eyes, which dealt with life and politics in Russia, to write this shorter story which was originally called “The Secret-Sharer: An Episode from the Sea.” It was first published in two installments in Harper’s Monthly Magazine in August and September of 1910. A couple of years later, in October 1912, it appeared again as part of a small collection of Conrad’s sea stories titled ’Twixt Land and Sea: Tales.
Read the story here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/220/220-h/220-h.htm
Bonus Track: The Lagoon
https://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Lago.shtml
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