The Enigma Code of “The Secret Sharer”

Abstract

While most commentary on Joseph Conrad’s novella, “The Secret Sharer,” focus on the loneliness of the Narrator-Captain and on his perception of the fugitive Leggatt as his "double," this article shifts the attention away from these issues, and onto some other noteworthy aspects of the story. Conrad’s piece of fiction is connected to a historical event which took place on board HMS Cutty Sark in 1880. There, Captain James Wallace committed suicide under the weight of responsibility he felt for a crime that had taken place on his clipper, and for his decision to allow the murder-accused to quietly slip away, thus perverting the course of justice. As an analysis of hints given in the story as to the protagonists’ age and personal circumstances reveals, Conrad’s Narrator-Captain is, in fact, James Wallace’s fictional reincarnation, for whom Conrad rewrites history and provides him with a triumphant denouement. Conrad, thus, gives a different finale to the real-life saga and rescues young Captain James Wallace form an ignominious suicidal end. Conrad is motivated in this both by personal sympathy, and by social-class solidarity felt for Captain James Wallace. Further, the article contains a discussion of the structure of the narrative, which shows that the first half of the text is crafted in the form of a "tale of assembly," and an examination of the naming convention, which reveals that Conrad’s practice of naming or leaving a person un-named in the story marks position in social hierarchy, and is a deliberate device.