Unraveling the twins of Conrad's psycheSay no to plagiarism. Get Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original EssayJoseph Conrad spoke such a truth about the inner workings of humanity when he said through his character Razumov in Under Western Eyes: “A man's most open actions have a secret side” (pt. 1, ch. 2). This would become a ghostly introduction to his next work The Secret Sharer published a year later. Joyce Carol Oats says in the introduction to the text that “the young captain is the “head”, the conscience; and the romantic fugitive Leggatt, the “body,” the physical being” (13; introd.). However, with more detailed exploration, the characters actually play opposing roles. Conrad has created a wonderfully detailed portrait of the inner self through a dual relationship representing the philosophy of opposition of self: the ego (the Captain) and the id (Leggatt). We can agree when Oats says that Conrad is “a master of the psychological novel” (7; introd.). Conrad shows his own thoughts on the duality of man through the captivating story of a young captain stumbling upon a terrible secret. However, the story goes beyond a simple mystery story. It's a commentary on a stranger in a sea of ​​inexperience who must reach out to find the sharer of secrets, an inner self complementary to the opposing outer facade. Conrad establishes the roles of the Captain and Leggatt through the story's epiphany found in the last sentence of the text. “The secret sharer of my cabin and my thoughts, as if he were my second self, had entered the water to suffer his punishment: a free man, a proud swimmer on his way to a new destiny” (Conrad , 62 years old). They are both free men with a new destiny as punishment for breaking the rules and contravening the norms set by sailors of the past. And if freedom were a punishment for harboring the fugitive, the captain would accept it. Commenting on the role of the narrator in a story, Norman Friedman argues that when the author shifts to the point of view of "I" as witness, he is handing over his work. completely to another. Even if the narrator is a creation of the author, he is now denied any direct voice in the debates” (150). The credibility of the narration comes from the fact that Conrad does not directly insert his opinion into the story. He gives everything to the reader through the limited view of the captain, who has no name and can be directly associated with Conrad himself. With the author out of the narrative and in character, the captain, a shell, is the one who must see and realize everything to connect with Leggatt, his wandering spirit, as a character in his own right. The logic behind him harboring a murderer is now a metaphor for a complementary opposite. No one is capable of doing great things alone. Another self must lurk in the shadows to spur them on, someone with whom to share a secret to surviving in a hostile world full of strangers. The captain is the ego, which is the outer shell shaped by circumstances and which cannot completely change; while Leggatt is the id, that inner instinct which rages in the consciousness and is capable of change, thus bringing about a change in the ego, or in the character itself. An interesting philosophical question is whether a body can survive without a soul, or, is there really a soul? Conrad attempts to show the importance of this unverifiable question through the secret sharers. Firstly, the captain is a shell of a man, lacking experience and self-confidence, being totallya stranger to himself (Conrad, 19 years old). Something is missing in his life, and when the fugitive boards the ship, the key item is found. In the same paragraph where Leggatt boards the ship, the captain already calls him his “double” (Conrad, 25). An ideal is in the features of the young man who strikes a contrast with the other shipmates whom he does not know or whom he does not even wish to know. At first contact, a distinct line separates the two characters as individuals, but the lines quickly blur towards the end of the tale as the two become one. To contrast the two, Leggatt is completely free, like the biblical Cain, “pretty ready to go.” wandering over the face of the earth” (Conrad, 31). He is skilled and confident in what he does, especially as a swimmer. He does not accept any stupidity from anyone, as evidenced by the fact that he is willing to kill a man who has not done his duty and has endangered the lives of other men, “and it was a sufficient price to pay for such an Abel” (Conrad, 31). Even locked in the captain's cabin, it is an attack on his freedom because “as usual, he looked across the port” (Conrad, 53), as a prisoner would look through barred windows. Seeing this free soul, the captain also wishes for freedom, although of a different kind: to free himself from the bonds that the establishment has imposed on him. He told Leggatt that he did not want to go on this trip and may have felt constrained by command: "I had been appointed to take command when I least expected something something like that” (Conrad, 33 years old). He can see that Leggatt is now released and free, and that a sense of adventure lingers in the fugitive's future. The captain fears that following the law exactly would only result in continuing to lead a soulless life, without any redeeming qualities that, perhaps, would lead to a life similar to that of the "tenacious beast" (Conrad, 43), the Sephora captain: “To the law. His obscure tenacity on this point had in it something incomprehensible and a little dreadful; something, so to speak, mystical, not to mention his concern not to be suspected of having "approved acts of this kind". sort.' Thirty-seven virtuous years at sea, more than twenty of which in immaculate command, and the last fifteen aboard the Sephora, seem to have subjected him to some pitiless obligation" (Conrad, 41). The captain knows what he does not want not be, but he hasn't yet realized what he can be. He's still not whole. He's way too nervous, and if he were alone with his secret, he would have collapsed under all the. pressure put on him by his teammates and the Sephora captain If Leggatt is anything, he represents the confidence, courage and strength of an incredibly inexperienced captain “The ringing of the supper bell startled me. But he [Leggatt] did not do it; he only loosened his grip” (Conrad, 56 years old). , nor would he have had the opportunity to show his strength as a captain. Self-opposition is what brings out this quality in the captain. The captain is very calculating in his thoughts; he seems to think too much about what is going to happen, and a kind of cowardice results. However, Leggatt throws his worries to the wind, swimming until he finds safety or drowns. He will do what is worthy for himself. The clear distinction between the two sharers begins to be felt at the end of the short story; the soul merges with the body; the id and ego come together to form a complete, full-fledged character in the captain. At first, the captain sees Leggatt simply as a paragon,, 1997. 1-14.