Conrad’s settings are perhaps among the most exotic utilized in literature, yet they serve not only as places for action, but they also drive the story. The novella takes place on an unnamed ship in Siam. (Conrad keeps both the ship and the captain unnamed in order to give the novella’s situations a sense of universality) The cramped bowels of a ship offer the perfect isolated setting. Having no where to run, the Captain is forced to understand his issues of personal inadequacies, the risk involved with harboring the fugitive Leggat,

On a symbolic level, Leggat and the captain are one in the same. Both seem outcasts on their respective ships. They even look alike, have similar builds and hair colors. An important symbolic quality to note is the sleeping suits the two share. The suits are gray, the color of brain matter. Also, they only wear them at night. In this sense Leggat is the captain’s subconscious. He lies dormant during the day and only communicates with the conscious self (the captain) at night. Even when the two first met, there seemed to be some inherent mental bond: “a mysterious communication was established already between us two- in the face of that darkened tropical sea” (26) It is worth noting that the captain could just as easily turned Leggat away, but he did not. Instead the captain showed compassion and in doing so, symbolically acknowledged his darker side’s existence.

By degrees, the Captain embraces Leggat, and by doing so is forced to make decisions that force him to evaluate his character. Much like the death of Snowden forced the character of Yossarian in Joseph Hellers novel Catch-22, the events surrounding Leggat drive the Captain’s dynamic change. In their first encounter, the Captain seems only to offer Leggat board, and he does so with great circumspect. Next the Captain offers him food, accommodations, and eventually goes so far as to become crass with the ships steward in o

Some topics in this essay:
Siam Conrad, Joseph Hellers, Secret Sharer, Joseph Conrad, Alter Ego, Leggat Instead, legatt captain, secret sharer, captain easily, save leggat, lies dormant, aspects character,