The Secret Sharer

About Joseph Conrad:

Joseph Conrad (born on 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British writer,
regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language. Though he did not
speak English fluently until his twenties, he was a master prose stylist who brought a non-
English sensibility into English literature. Conrad wrote stories and novels, many with a nautical
setting, that depict trials of the human spirit in the midst of what he saw as an impassive,
inscrutable universe. Conrad is considered an early modernist, though his works contain
elements of 19th-century realism. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters have influenced
numerous authors, and many films have been adapted from, or inspired by, his works. Numerous
writers and critics have commented that Conrad's fictional works, written largely in the first two
decades of the 20th century, seem to have anticipated later world events. Writing near the peak
of the British Empire, Conrad drew, among other things, on his native Poland's national
experiences and on his own experiences in the French and British merchant navies, to create
short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a European-dominated world—including
imperialism and colonialism—and that profoundly explore the human psyche.

Summary:

As dusk begins to fall, the unnamed narrator of the story stands on the deck of his ship, currently
anchored at the mouth of the Meinam River in the Gulf of Siam. The narrator is the Captain of
the ship who leaves the deck to eat supper with his mates. The time is approximately eight
o'clock. At supper, the Captain remarks that he saw the masts of a ship anchored amongst some
nearby islands. The Chief Mate explains that the ship to which the Captain is referring is
probably another English one, waiting for the right moment to sail home with a favorable tide.
The Second Mate elaborates: The ship is the Sephora, from Liverpool, and is bound home from
Cardiff with a cargo of coal. (He learned this from the skipper of the tugboat who came aboard to
fetch the Captain's letters.).The Captain makes a magnanimous gesture by offering to take the
anchor watch himself until one o'clock, after which time he will get the Second Mate to relieve
him. Again alone on deck, the Captain meditatively smokes a cigar and again considers his own
"strangeness" to the ship and its command. The rest of the crew sleeps soundly. The Captain
notices that the rope side ladder, hung over the side of the ship to accommodate the skipper of
the tugboat, has not been brought in. As he begins to pull it, he feels a jerk at the other end and
curious, looks over the rail into the sea. He sees a naked man floating in the water and holding
the end of the ladder. The man introduces himself as Leggatt. He has been in the water since nine
o'clock, which makes the Captain consider his strength and youth. Leggatt climbs up the ladder
and the Captain rushes to his cabin to fetch him some clothes. The Captain learns that Leggatt
was the chief mate of the Sephora and that he accidentally killed a fellow crewman. Although
Leggatt unintentionally murdered the man, the Skipper stripped Leggatt of his title. The Captain
tells Leggatt that they should retire to his cabin so as not to be discovered by the Chief Mate. The
Captain hides Leggatt in his cabin, returns to the deck, summons the Chief Mate to take over the
anchor watch, and returns to his cabin. Leggatt continues his story: After killing the man, he was
placed under arrest and kept in his cabin for almost seven weeks. Approximately six weeks into
his confinement, Leggatt asked to see the Skipper and asked him to leave his door unlocked that
night, while the Sephora sailed through the Sunda Straits, so that he could jump off and swim to
the Java coast. The Skipper refused. Three weeks later, the Sephora came to its present location,
and Leggatt discovered that the ship's steward — wholly by accident — had left the door to his
cabin unlocked. Leggatt wandered onto the deck and jumped off into the sea. He swam to a
nearby islet while the Sephora's crew lowered a boat to search for him. Leggatt removed his
clothes and sank them, determined never to return. He swam to another small island, saw the
riding light of the Captain's ship, and swam to it. Eventually, he reached the rope ladder,
completely exhausted after swimming over a mile. The Captain helps Leggatt into his bed, where
he falls asleep immediately. The Captain eventually falls asleep himself; the next morning, the
steward enters the Captain's cabin to bring him his morning coffee. (He does not notice Leggatt
because the Captain drew the curtains that separate the bed from the rest of the cabin.) The
Captain becomes more paranoid that someone will discover Leggatt and decides that he must
show himself on deck. The Captain learns that a ship's boat is coming toward their ship. He
orders the ladder to be dropped over the side and leaves Leggatt to meet who he is sure will be
the Skipper of the Sephora, searching for Leggatt. The Skipper of the Sephora arrives on board
the Captain's ship, looking for any sign of Leggatt. The Skipper is distressed over Leggatt's
actions and disappearance, explaining that he has been at sea for thirty-seven years and has never
seen anything like what happened with Leggatt. The Captain offers the Skipper the explanation
that perhaps the heavy sea rather than Leggatt killed the crewman, but the Skipper tells him that
this could not have been the case. He then tells the Captain that he will have to report Leggatt as
a suicide. The Skipper is, however, suspicious of the Captain and remarks that while the
mainland is seven miles away, the Captain's ship is only two miles away from the Sephora. To
mislead the Skipper, the Captain shows him the rest of his cabin and stateroom, announcing his
intention to do so, so that Leggatt will know to remain absolutely still. As the Skipper descends
the ladder to return to his ship, he begins to ask the Captain if he suspects Leggatt to be on board,
but the Captain quickly dismisses him with, "Certainly not." The Captain and Leggatt have
another secret conversation. Leggatt tells the Captain that the Sephora's Skipper lied when he
said that he gave the order to repair the foresail. Rather, he whimpered about their "last hope"
while Leggatt repaired the foresail without being told to do so. The Captain, wholly convinced of
Leggatt's innocence, understands that the weather, on the night Leggatt killed the crewman,
"crushed an unworthy mutinous existence." Leggatt's presence in the Captain's cabin causes the
Captain to constantly think of him, and the Chief Mate and the helmsman notice the Captain
behaving in an odd, stealthy manner. The Captain's tension grows more unbearable. During this
time, Leggatt hides mostly in the Captain's bathroom and sleeps with him in his bed. Leggatt eats
tins of preserves stored in the Captain's locker and drinks the Captain's morning coffee. Leggatt
asks the Captain to maroon him on a nearby shore, since he will not return to England to be tried
and hung. The Captain initially refuses, but then agrees to grant Leggatt his wish. At midnight,
the Captain goes on deck and orders this ship to change its tack and approach the east side of the
Gulf. The Chief Mate silently hints at his disapproval and tells the Second Mate that the order
shows a lack of judgment. By noon, the Chief Mate wonders when the Captain will order a
change of course. However, the Captain tells him that they will be sailing as close to the islands
as they can to find some "land breezes" to propel them more quickly than they were moving in
the middle of the Gulf. The Chief Mate expresses his shock at this decision. That night, the
Captain tells Leggatt that he will steer the ship near Koh-ring, an island that seems inhabited.
The Captain will maneuver the ship to within half a mile of the shore. Leggatt warns him to be
careful, lest a mishap cost the Captain his first command. The Captain returns to the deck and
orders the Second Mate to open the quarter-deck ports. He then returns to his cabin and tells
Leggatt to escape out of the quarter-deck ports while the rest of the crew is occupied. He also
tells him to lower himself to the sea with a rope to avoid a splash. Leggatt grabs the Captain's
arm as a silent gesture of thanks. That night, the Captain visits Leggatt for the last time. He gives
him three sovereigns, which Leggatt initially refuses but eventually accepts. Neither man says
anything when they separate for the last time. When the Captain returns to the deck, he is startled
by the ship's proximity to the land, but he knows he must maintain this course to help Leggatt
escape. He orders the helmsman to continue their course, while the other crewmen stare in
disbelief. They approach Koh-ring, and as the ship gets closer to the land, the members of the
crew begin vocalizing their concern. The Chief Mate cries that the ship's bottom will be torn off
by the land and the helmsman expresses his doubts over the Captain's order to maintain their
course. Although the Captain remains stern to the men, he is filled with doubt about their
chances of survival. The dark sky, combined with the shadow of the hills of Koh-ring make
navigation very difficult, and the Captain wishes he had some kind of mark in the water by
which to gage his steering. Suddenly, he sees a white object in the water within a yard of the
ship's side — he recognizes it as his hat, which he gave to Leggatt and which had fallen off his
head when he began his swim to shore. The Captain uses this mark to help him steer the ship,
which avoids being grounded and steers clear of any further danger. The Captain now feels in
perfect command of the ship and his crew. As his ship sails on, he watches his hat disappear
from view and thinks of Leggatt, "striking out for a new destiny."