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Joseph Conrad's the Secret Sharer Essay
Joseph Conrad's the Secret Sharer Essay
Identity in literature essay
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In the story of The Secret Sharer, by Joseph Conrad, A man (the Narrator ) becomes the captain of a ship. All the shipmates have known each other for quite a while, so when the Narrator comes aboard he feels and is treated like a stranger. One night he comes encounter with a mysterious man, known as Leggatt, who hanging from the ladder of his ship. He feels an instant connection with him even after he learns that this man is a murder. He chooses to take care of this man and not tell anyone because he looks almost exactly like him and he has a similar mental struggle which leads him to believe in an ultimate connection that he does not want to separate. Leggatt and the Narrator have an unusual amount of similar physical traits. Because of this, the Narrator feels a special kind of connection with Leggat. The first connection he feels is when he first encounters Leggatt, who hanging from the end of a ladder on his ship. After exchanging few words about the situation the Narrator explains that he felt “A mysterious …show more content…
While the Narrator is pleasant and kind, he zones out while the captain is talking to him. He thinks, “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 mind” (28). The Narrator has begun comparing himself to Leggatt as if he was Leggatt. He doesn’t want to throw Leggatt off his ship or give him away because, if he were Leggat, he would be scared and not like that. A lot of this reasoning comes from the Narrator’s natural personality while the rest of the reasoning comes from the mysterious connection that happens between him and Leggatt and he doesn’t what to let go of
Lennie Small, a mentally impaired man, is first introduced to us traveling with George. George, however, is not related to Lennie. Lennie travels with George because no one else understands him like he does. Lennie says, “Because…because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you…” (Steinbeck 14). Lennie believes if George ever left him that he could live in a cave by himself and not bother anyone again (Steinbeck 12). Lennie realizes he would be alone without George, but he never has known anyone else to depend on but George, and from that, they have a bond, a friendship. This shows Lennie’s need for his relationship with George.
Have you ever read something and was so deep in it that you felt inspired and received a connection from it? Gabriel Garcia Marquez does this in the story “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the world.” Marquez gets across two ideas about inspiration and connections through his use of symbolism, character, and setting.
In The Parable several characters are presented to the reader. Each one has their own behavioral characteristics which one may or my not approve of. The two characters whose behaviors I most approve of are Lee Pai and Hernando. The characters whose behaviors I do not approve of are Sven and John. There are several reasons why I approve of the behaviors of Lee Pai and Hernando and do not approve of the behaviors of Sven and John. All of these reasons I have based on my interpretation of the story, The Parable.
The captain is characterized as incompetent even at sailing a ship despite his title. The captain should have been the one to lead the castaways but his incompetence caused the island dwellers to despise him. Ten years after being marooned on the island, “the captain become a very boring person, without enough to think about, without enough to do.”(294). Trying to find a purpose to his boring life, the captain hovered around a spring, the island’s only water supply. He would tell the kanka-bono girls the kind of mood the spring was in on that day despite the fact that “The dribbling [from the spring] was in fact quite steady, and had been for thousands of years”(295). The kanka-bono girls did not speak english and therefore the captain’s attempt at humanising the spring were lost on the girls making it a completely pointless endeavor. Moreover,If not for the lack of tools on the island, the captain would have tried to improve the springs and consequently might have clogged it(296) potentially putting the life of castaways at risk. The captain was desperate to find a purpose to his mundane life on the island, so much that he was willing to put his and the island’s inhabitant 's life at risk. The captain’s attempt at accomplishing something to find a purpose in his life was useless and even
The short story "The Secret Sharer" by Joseph Conrad centers around a character of a sea captain who is insecure and has great feelings of inadequacy on his fist job as Captain of a ship. In the story the Captain befriends a fugitive by the name of Legatt who is clearly shown to be a figment of the Captains imagination rather than an actual human being. The title of the story alone suggests that the "secret sharer" is an imaginary friend that is secretive and that the Captain can share his thoughts with. The Captains feelings of inadequacy and his insecurities leave an empty space in him, which he fills by imagining his "secret sharer". Legatt helps the Captain overcome his feelings of inadequacy and his fears and helps the Captain become a good leader and the man he always wanted to be.
Another attribute to the story is the insight which the third person narrator offers to the reader regarding the sailors' state of mind. Particularly interesting, is the reference to the poem "Bingen on the Rhine". Until the correspondent must contemplate his own death on the cold and desolate seas, he does not realize the tragedy of a soldier of the legion dying in Algiers. Also, not only did he not realize the significance, he says that, "it was less to him than the breaking of a pencil's point"(385). Again, towards the end of the story, the narrator describes the bitterness the correspondent feels towards nature when he realizes that after all his efforts he may not live to appreciate his being. Observations such as these are not encountered frequently until confronted with death and the conveyance of these thoughts is insightful and meaningful to the reader.
The captain hides Leggett because he connects to him through similar experiences in life. “He appealed to me as if our experiences...
Equally important, Andre Szara is given an assignment but does not know why, further adding to the suspense and obliviousness for any consequences. Szara’s assignment is to find out where his fellow passenger on the tugboat, Grigory Khelidze, is staying in Ostend. Szara has no idea why he must find out where this man is staying, thus creating a sense of bewilderment. It is as if Szara has been set out on to a winding and unforgiving path that leaves no indication or signs as to where it will lead him.
Today, in most cases, people don’t spend very much time thinking about why the society we live in presently, is the way it is. Most people would actually be surprised about all that has happened throughout America’s history. Many factors have influenced America and it’s society today, but one of the most profound ways was the way the “Old Immigrants” and “New Immigrants” came to America in the early to mid 1800s. The “Old Immigrants were categorized as the ones who came before 1860 and the “New Immigrants” being the ones who came between 1865 and 1920. The immigrants came to the United States, not only seeking freedom, but also education. Many immigrants also wanted to practice their religion without hindrance. What happened after the immigrants
The character of Captain Cat is treated sympathetically by Thomas, his conversations with the dead a reminder of both death's immanence and of the importance of having no fear of this. Captain Cat relishes in life, surrounding himself with the things he loves, shown in his "seashelled, sh...
The captain doesn’t even realize he has been sleeping. The narrator listens to the man explain why he had been floating in the water and then realizes that him and the man have plenty in common, both mentally and physically. The narrator feels connected to the man. Leggatt is being hunted for. He is being hunted for murder and also for going against the order of the captain of the Sephora, which is the ship, he was also assigned to.
Since this bond of brotherhood is felt by all the men in the boat, but not discussed, it manifests in small ways as the men interact with each other. They are never irritated or upset with each other, no matter how tired or sore they are. Whenever one man is too tired to row, the next man takes over without complaining. When the correspondent thinks that he is the only person awake on the boat, and he sees and hears the shark in the water, the narrator says, “Nevertheless, it is true that he did not want to be alone with the thing. He wished one of his companions to awaken by chance and keep him company with it” (Crane 212).
The first character that we are introduced to is R. Walton. He is on a ship with many deck hands and crewmembers, but in his letter to Margaret, his sister, he states, "I have no friend. Even when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavor to sustain to me dejection." Although Walton has a boat full of men, he still feels lonely and friendless, and wishes he had a male companion to sympathize with him. Perhaps the reason that he feels this way is that he is looking for a different type of friend than what these tough sailors can offer. "I spoke of my (Walton) desire of finding a friend, of my thirst for a more intimate sympathy with a fellow mind than had ever fallen to my lot."
At first glance it would seem that Leggatt is either the antagonist or provides a criminal influence on the captain. By no means are Leggatt's decisions and actions exemplary. Murdering mutinous crew members is hardly an acceptable practice, and avoiding justice, and one's punishment-all of which Leggatt do-only worsen the issue. The captain claims that in swimming to the island Koh-ring, his double had "lowered himself into the water to take his punishment" (Conrad 193). However, as Cedric Watts argues, this is only true because Leggatt, by escaping justice, will face an uncertain future marooned on an island (134). In reality, Leggatt is doing the opposite; he is lowering himself into the water to escape from the law, ...
The next character introduced is the narrator. He is both complex and interesting. He thinks he is not crazy. As he goes out of his way to prove that his is not insane, he does the exact opposite. His relationship with the old man is unknown. However, he does say he loves the old man. “I loved the old man.” (Poe 1).