This character analysis of The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad focuses on Leggatt and the Captain in a comparison and contrast consisting of five pages. Two sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: AM2_PPsharer.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Joseph Conrad is known not only for his captivating tales of the sea but also for the complex relationships between characters
which he entwines in each of his stories. One of the most interesting of these relationships is that which unfolds between the captain and Leggatt in "The Secret Sharer".
The captain refers to Leggatt as his double throughout the story but in actuality the two characters are not really as similar as they are complimentary.
To understand the relationship Conrad weaves between the captain and Leggatt it is necessary to recognize that this relationship is quite probably not one woven out
of literary imagination. Indeed, Conrad spent some twenty years on the sea between 1874 and 1894 and is likely to have observed, and quite possibly participated in, several such
complex interpersonal relationships. He is even suspected of having participated in such adventuresome activities as gun running on the Spanish coast. Such real-life experiences are obvious influences on
such novels as "The Secret Sharer" and the relationship it details between the captain and Leggatt. Although "The Secret Sharer" was
not written until 1909, some thirteen years after his last sea voyage, it is considered one of Conrads most personal tales relating to his time on the sea. It
is said to have been spawned after the visit of an old sea friend, Captain Morris, a man who still lived the seafaring life which had occupied Conrads earlier years.
The visit rekindled memories of Conrads days on the sea and inspired his creation of the captain and Leggatt. Characteristically, however, Conrad endowed these characters and the events