zBlogging the Literary Life - AP College English

Secret Sharer and The Stranger

The Secret Sharer by Joesph Conrad is alot like the Stranger. Leggatt deals with issues with his double side, while Meursault has a power struggle with himself.  Legatt's double is alot like Meursault in a wierd way.  Leggatt killed a man on the ship and acted as if he wasn't the least bit remorsefull.  "There's a ship over there... yes I know.  The sephora.  Did you know of us? Hadn't the slightest idea.  I am the mate of her -- I should say I was... Aha! Something wrong?  Yes, very wrong indeed.  I've killed a man." (130)  Leggatt was conscious thathe had killed a went about it a if it ws a casual incident. 

On the other hand, Meursault was  in sort of the same situation.  "We stared at each other without blinking, and everything came to a stop there between the sea, the sand, and the sun, and the double silence of the flute and the water.  It was then that I realized that you could either shoot or not shoot." (56)  As a result, meursault decided to kill the Arabian man.  Both Leggatt and Meursault had a choice not to kill the men but they did.  Meursault is a distant character that keeps to himself .  Leggatt in a way is a little distant also.  "Mr Leggatt you've killed a man.  You can no longer as chief mate of this ship." (133)  When Leggatt heard this he really had no reaction just as Meursault did not have a reaction when his mother died.  All in all, Leggatt and Meursault are similar characters.

Please Clarify This Passage For Me

So today, here I am just skimming through the book and this passage jumps out at me. It's the part of the book where everyone is looking at the captain weird and pondering his actions.

...the chief mate came to meet me, touching his cap.  There was a sort of curiosity in his eye that I did not like.  I don't know whether the steward had told them that I was 'queer' only, or downright drunk, but I know the man meant to have a good look at me.  I watched him coming with a smile, as he got into point-blank range, took effect and froze his very whiskers.  I did not give him time to open his lips(143).

Maybe I'm just reading too much into the intimacy of the captain and "his double" but for what reason is the word queer in quotations?

Let Me "Share" My Thoughts ...

So no one really knows who, or what Leggatt represents exactly. Is he the romantic partner of the Captain, does he reveal the Captains wilder darker side, or could he be seen as the existentialist side of the Captain? All of these have been discussed. I think Leggatt represents or is a symbol for something that we've only just begun to uncover. The problem, though, is that I'm not sure what that could be. I feel as though the relationships in this book appear to be complex. It's hard to read everything that is being said or commented on. Maybe it's just me though, that thinks some of the language is hard to decipher. After reading some lines I find myself asking what i just read, or having to re-read it several times. Also, since this novel is so short, I feel everything that is condensed into it is of importance  or should be taken into account. That maybe something so small or barely mentioned, really means something of great proportions. I can't decide if Leggatt is a real person or a ghost, each has support to back it up. Hmmm, thoughts?

Leggatt, the FedEx Box

Analyzing this book has been a very stressful experience for me. I am completely torn. I can't decide if I see Leggatt as a real person, a true soul mate to the strange and lonely captain, or if I see him more as a symbol of the captain's other half. I do see the captain as an incomplete individual who is made complete only by the presence of Legatt, but both of these analyses would support that.

Perhaps the answer (for me) lies in some combination of the two. Maybe Leggatt is a vessel (or, as I put it very inarticulately today in class the "Tupperware container" or the "FedEx box") for the captain's other half. Maybe his soul purpose in life is to deliver the understanding, knowledge and experience that the captain needs to become a complete person.

This third analysis would also explain the uncanny similarities between the men. Leggatt, the "delivery vessel" must bear resemblance to the captain so the captain can feel comfortable enough in his presence to accept the package he offers and allow himself to be affected and changed by him.

Their attraction, whether romantic or platonic to one another could also be justified by this theory. They are drawn to each other because they exist on this earth in order to combine and form one complete person. It is only after they "share" with one another that the captain is whole. He has taken the "contents" of Leggatt, and Leggatt has fulfilled his duty. Perhaps the hasty ending is genuine. They really were done with each other. They got their business done, formed one whole man and can now return to their separate lives.   

Leggatt is Dead

Since the Secret Sharer is such a short novel, it seems like almost every little detail has some amount of importance. Early in the novel, the chief mate finds a "miserable scorpion"(2 maybe?). It seems that this scorpion is used as Leggatt's literary double. For instance, the scorpion was found mysteriously in the most unlikely of places (It would have been more partial to a dark place). Laggatt similarly is found clinging to the rope ladder. Leggatt’s crime of murder, even though it may be accidental, marks him as dangerous, like a scorpion. Finally the scorpion drowns in an inkwell, rendering it black when discovered by the Chief Mate. Leggatt’s hair is also black. This may seem like a stretch, but is helpful to remember the theme of light and dark in the novel, and it seems more than coincidence that both the scorpion and Leggatt are stained black: The scorpion literally by the ink and Leggatt figuratively by his crime. Also, note that the scorpion ended its life by jumping into the black ink. When Laggatt is ready to try to swim to the island of Koh-ring, both the island and the water are described as "black" on several pages. He calls it "a great black mass brooding over our very mastheads."  Does this passage about the scorpion show that Leggatt died, or is it just there to show the chief mate's reaction to the unknown and unfamiliar?

On the last page, very near the end, the captain refers to Koh-ring as a "towering black mass like the very gates of Erebus." This is meaningless if one doesn’t know who Erebus is, so i did some research. According to Encyclopedia Mythica, Erebus was known as the embodiment of primordial darkness, and the gate of Erebus was a gate that the dead would have to pass shortly after they have died. The "gate of everlasting night" in the words of the captain. The color black and the motif of darkness clearly are symbols of evil. The dangerous scorpion dies completely surrounded in blackness, and as i see it, so does Laggatt. After all, he wasn’t able to hold onto the captains white hat (maybe the last shreds of goodness that Leggatt was in possession of).

So, what do you think, does the scorpion show that Laggatt is dead, or is it just an example of how much the chief mate would freak if he found Laggatt as a stowaway.

(I couldn’t provide the most accurate citations on page numbers because I accidentally grabbed Mr. H's book on the way out of class--I thought it was mine--and returned it. But that means that now my book is missing. I found a copy of the Secret Sharer on the Internet, but it doesn’t have page numbers.)

Leggatt and Captain are Partners

There are many interesting analyses for The Secret Sharer.  You could look at Leggatt as the captain's double self, either his evil/primal side or one who gives the captain strength and confidence.  The most interesting analization is seeing Leggatt as the captains homosexual partener.

Throughout the novel the two of them talk in whispers and are considers two strangers.  They were together in bed talking and saying how everything and everyone was against them and how they had to keep their talking a secret.  This was because it was so unaccepted.  Also, at the time this book was published homosexuality was kept on the down low.  It was not discussed or accepted and certainly not written about.

"PG" Brokeback Mountain

I think that Leggatt is a real person.  I do not think that he is a ghost and if he is a ghost or a symbol in this book he is representing a person.  I don't think that Leggatt represents another half of the captain or he is "dark side".  I think that when the captain calls Leggatt his double, he doesn't mena his other half, he means that Leggatt shares something very secret and special to himself that cannot be spoken of, which is why they talk in whispers.  I don't think that this book is at all about two captains understanding each other, it is about two men understanding each other and I believe they are gay.  I think that Leggatt stands for a real person who the the author once had a secret love affair with.  I think he came very unexpectedly and as an outcast from his last place whichis why the author portrays him as this stowaway.  The love affair makes them both stowaways on the captains own ship.  They are both "strangers" to society for no reason that is shown in the book except that Leggatt killed a man but it sounded like he was an outcast before that but there is no reason given for why the captain considers himself a stranger. 

Naked Man from the Sea

Ever since yesterday, when we started talking about Leggatt's role in The Secret Sharer, I've been trying to figure out which interpretation I agree with.  At first I thought that Leggatt served as inner strength and confidence for the Captain, allowing him to overcome his self-doubts (about his ability to live up to his potential as captain) and fully take command.  Now I'm starting to think that some of the different ways of reading Leggatt--as the Captain's evil side or a homosexual partner---are also very valid. 

I think that the passage that first describes Leggatt's appearance backs up each of these interpretations:  "the naked body of a man, flickered in the sleeping water with the elusive, silen play of summer lightening in a sky" (127). 

The "summer lightening in a sky" indicates that something is being illuminated, and I think that in this case, nudity might be a symbol for the captain feeling metaphorically exposed.

So if you read Leggatt as the captain's inner strength, then he comes because the Captain is feeling like his weakness or inadequacy as a leader/commander is being exposed.  Leggatt eventually helps him overcome this. 

If you interpret Leggatt as as the Captain's evil side, then Leggatt has come to show the Captain a more rebellious side of himself that he might have been suppressing.  Earlier in the book, the water was described as having "great security...no disquieting problems, invested with elementary moral beauty..." (126).  And Leggatt rises out of the water, so maybe that shows how he will disrupt the calm morality of the Captain's world and make his primal instincts come out.

Finally, if you see Leggatt as a homosexual partner for the Captain, then he is exposing some of the Captain's homosexual desires (which were otherwise kept hidden because of their unnacceptability in society).

Any way you look at it, Leggatt is illuminating something within the captain or helping him see some unknown part of himself.  I might be stretching it a little bit with my reading of this descriptive passage, but I thought it was something interesting to think about.

Deep passage

The narrator of the book, the captain, describes his evening on the deck on page 126.  In this description he

Rejoiced in the great security of the sea as compared to the unrest of the land, in my choice of that untempted life presenting no disquieting problems, invested with an elementary moral beauty by the absolute straightforwardness of its appeal and by the singleness of its purpose (126).

I just liked the language that Conrad uses in this passage.  Its pretty meaningful if you look into what he is trying to say.

Get a Back Bone Captain!

The Captain in The Secret Sharer is really confusing to me.  I normally think of captains of ships as being strong, by the book kind of guys, but it seems like he almost lets Legatt push him around.  He immediately believes what Legatt has to say and thinks he is innocent.  I'm no pessimist, but I don't know how much I would trust a naked murderer who tries to climb on my ship in the middle of the night, but maybe that's just me.  I was also surprised that the Captain was so willing to let Legatt drink his coffee, sleep in his bed, etc.  Legatt also had very little persuading to do when he wanted the Captain to drop him off on a nearby shore.  The relationship between Legatt and the Captain seems to me to be very dominated by Legatt.  The Captain's whipped.