“The Secret Sharer” 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.This is the Captains first job at being the captain of a ship and he feels like he is a stranger on his own ship “my position was that of the only stranger on board...I was somewhat a stranger to myself (725). The captain feels more intimidated because he is the only new person on board the ship the crew already know each other and the Captain believes they don’t like him very much. At this point the Captain is unsteady in his new command but has good intentions. He keeps anchor watch one night, to the astonishment of the crew, as a gesture of benevolence. However, his attempt toward friendliness serves to alienate the captain even further because his crew is so taken aback by his actions. The Captain needs to show leadership in order to gain respect of his crew, but being his first time in command of a ship and being a stranger to himself he does not know how.When Legatt first appears the Captain seems to treat him like a distinguished guest rather than a fugitive. The Captain discovers that they have a few things in comm...
