The True Bond Between Men

As human beings we are forced to accept the inevitability of being confronted with situations that test our ethical bounds and character. In the middle of a moral conflict we become lost in thought and make decisions based on intuition with the belief that it will guide us to ethical ground. However, we cannot always be morally correct where we must revisit our past to examine whether our choices were correct. Being torn between what is moral and immoral arises in the story The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad. Conrad presents a moral conflict between the Captain who remains unnamed, and an escaped criminal, Leggatt. By observing the choices and the thoughts of the captain, we can try to evaluate whether his harbouring of the fugitive is morally correct or not. However, many evaluations of the situation come into light, especially that of the sexual attraction of the captain and Leggatt, which interferes with the captains decision-making. This is a main argument in James Phelan’s critical essay “Sharing Secrets”. Phelan examines the homosexual tendencies and states that these urges stand in the way of making a moral decision and the true secret is the captain’s sexuality. Conversely, Phelan’s valid examination of the captain’s inability to accept the actions of Leggatt helps further delve into the nature of the true secret. The critical essay “Sharing Secrets” introduces the idea that the there are two possibilities that the captain feels close to Leggatt; there is a mutual sexual attraction and that Leggatt is a figure of the captains’ imagination. Phelan disregards the theory of Leggatt being imagined with the support of the visit from Captain Archbold of the Sephora when he says,
This hypothesis, however, is difficult to sustain because it must explain away too much recalcitrant evidence. The greatest recalcitrance is provided by Archbold’s visit, which provides independent conformation of Leggatt’s existence… (Phelan, 135)

The disregard of the idea of the hallucinations allows Phelan to further focus on the idea of the secret mutual sexual attraction. Phelan analyzes the captain’s first sight of Leggatt and how it supposedly shows the “sexual undertones” of the text shown by the Captain describing the event.
… I saw at once something elongated and pale floating very close to the ladder. Before I cold form a guess a faint flash of phosphorescent light, which seemed to issue suddenly from the naked body of a man, flickered in the sleeping water with the elusive silent play of summer lightning in a night sky. (Conrad, 28)

Phelan goes on to say that “the captains gaze follows the line of Leggatt’s naked body from foot to neck” but contrary to this statement anyone who would see a body floating in the ocean would examine it for any signs of life (Conrad, 28). One may look to see if there are any signs of life or if there appears to be any injuries on the body floating in the water. The captain does this saying, “[I] leaned over the rail as far as I could, to bring my eyes nearer to that mystery floating alongside” (Conrad, 29). The captain further takes moral action and helps Leggatt on board the ship prior to his knowledge of Leggatt’s crime. There is no attraction in the situation, but rather a humane act of helpfulness.
Another scene where Phelan states that there is a mutual sexual attraction and that the captain seeks the longing of Leggatt is when the Captain must make things seem perfectly normal in his cabin for the stewards who tend to him. The captain says,
I took a bath and did most of my dressing, splashing, and whistling softly for the steward’s edification, while the secret sharer of my life stood drawn up bolt upright in that little space. (Conrad, 40).

Phelan takes this scene and contorts it to better fit what he is analyzing. This scene is merely a show of how the captain wants to ensure that no one on board the ship suspect that something may be out of the ordinary. The captain even states that he is solely taking a bath and resuming his normal routine for the “steward’s edification”. Even though Leggatt remains present, there is no other place for him to go. He is confined to the captain’s quarters unable to leave or there would be a possibility that someone might spot him. Moreover, Phelan uses the scene where the captain gives Leggatt his hat as a sign of mutual affection where Phelan quotes Conrad: “Our hands met, gropingly, lingered united in a steady, motionless clasp for a second… No word was breathed by either of us when they separated” (Conrad, 56). Though this scene may seem to have some sexual tension, it is only that way when you read Phelan’s essay. When reading this passage in the story it does not seem strange or indicate anything other than a coincidental action. The captain is just handing his hat over to a man who will forever remain a foreigner to the land on which he will land, showing an act of kindness a gift from a friend to a new friend. The Captain says in full,
A sudden thought struck me. I saw myself wandering barefooted, bareheaded, the sun beating on my dark poll. I snatched off my floppy hat and tried hurriedly in the dark to ram it on my other self. He dodged and fended off silently. I wonder what he thought had come to me before he understood and suddenly desisted. Out hands met gropingly, lingered united in a steady, motionless clasp for a second… (Conrad, 56).

Phelan uses an excerpt from the full context, in order to prove his point. This is just an act of kindness; the captain wants to show that he has made a friend and that his hat is a remembrance of him, nothing more. Unlike what Phelan insists that the hat “becomes a substitute for giving [Leggatt] a ring or any other token of remembrance and identification that one lover gives to another” (Phelan, 138). Rather, his hat represents a new friendship or a camaraderie that has been formed between the two men.
Furthermore, Phelan goes on to analyze the sexual dialogue that the captain and Leggatt exchange, and the further anxiety that the captain faces over the crew possibly discover of his sexual orientation. Though it may seem as sexual dialogue it is no more than ordinary dialogue between a rescuer and the person that was in distress. Phelan makes an assumption that the captain enjoyed the sight of Leggatt’s naked body floating in the water, when Leggatt says, “I didn’t mind being looked at. I—I liked it. And then you speaking to me so quietly—as if you had expected me –made me hold on a little longer” (Conrad, 37). This quote instead shows that Leggatt was in fact encouraged to hold on longer, as his rescuer came to save him. Leggatt felt a sense of relief knowing that someone had seen him in the water, and was not someone who was ready to charge him with a crime. Leggatt says, “I was glad to talk a little to somebody that didn’t belong to the Sephora…I wanted to be seen, to talk with somebody, before I went on” (Conrad, 38). Leggatt is describing his longing to be saved, to speak one last person before his body gave up and passed on. There is no indication of any homosexual attraction that Leggatt has for the captain, he only shows a sign of relief, which is normal for any human being after swimming in the ocean unsure of their survival.
Phelan moves on to speak about the homosexual attraction that the Captain has for Leggatt, which he supports with the fact that the Captain is anxious over whether the crew will find out about his sexual orientation. Phelan says, “Part of the captain’s anxiety about his acceptance by the crew now becomes anxiety over whether they will suspect his sexual orientation” (Phelan, 158). The captain does in fact experience anxiety, however he experiences it in the restlessness that he has over whether someone will find out that he is harbouring a fugitive. The captain is worried that someone might see Leggatt in his quarters, and will endanger his life, reputation, and the life of Leggatt. The captain becomes so distracted with all that is going on that he describes his current actions and his thoughts,
At breakfast time, eating nothing myself, I presided with such frigid dignity that the two mates were only too glad to escape from the cabin as soon as decency permitted; and all the time the dual working of my mind distracted me almost to the point of insanity. I was constantly watching myself, my secret self, as dependent on my actions as my own personality, sleeping in that bed, behind that door that faced me as I sat at the head of the table. It was very much like being mad, only it was worse because one was aware of it. (Conrad, 40)

Clearly by this statement by the captain there is an anxiety, but that anxiety is not of the homosexual nature. It relates the anxiety that he acquires by harbouring Leggatt, normal for anyone implicated in something of this nature. The captain must always make things seem as if they were normal, but be aware that Leggatt could be exposed at any moment. Doubling occurs across the entire story, where Phelan presents an interesting take on how far the doubling actually goes. Phelan’s valid analysis of the situation shows how far the captain takes his view of how Leggatt is similar to himself. Phelan says, “Shake some sense into the mate! No, don’t touch him at all! Bring the ship all the way in! How can you value the secret over the ship? Listen to the mate! Forget the mate!” (Phelan, 142). The captain’s need for Leggatt on board the ship, where he is a foreigner like Leggatt, helps him find comfort. Conversely, as Leggatt begins to depart from the ship the captain says, “And my second self was making now ready to slip out and lower himself overboard” (Conrad, 58). Showing his uneasiness in the current situation he says, “and now I forgot the secret stranger ready to depart, and remembered only that I was a total stranger to the ship” (Conrad, 58). No longer is he with someone who can comfort him and make him feel as though he belongs on the ship. He resorts to this doubling because he sees a mirroring of himself not in image but in what he wants to see. Phelan does in fact make a valid point concerning the captain’s inability to accept the magnitude of Leggatt’s crime. The captain refuses to admit to Leggatt’s crime even though Leggatt tells his story where he clearly and deliberately killed the man with his bare hands. Phelan uses the quote from the story to support this statement:
We closed just as an awful sea made for the ship. All hands saw it coming and took to the rigging, but I had him by the throat, and went on shaking him like a rat, the men above us telling, ‘Look out! Look out!’ Then a crash as if the sky had fallen on my head. The say that for over ten minutes hardly anything was to be seen of the ship… It was a miracle that they found us, jammed together behind the forebits. It’s clear that I meant business, because I was holding him by the throat still when they picked us up. (Conrad, 140)

Obviously Leggatt admits to the killing, and has no remorse for the killing. But the captain’s inability to accept that he has harboured a fugitive that killed a man forces him to go against this. Shown by the captain’s trying to convince Captain Archbold when he comes aboard, the captain says, “Don’t you think that they heavy sea which, you told me, came aboard just then might have killed the man?” I have seen the sheer weight of a sea kill a man very neatly, by simply breaking his neck” (Conrad, 42). On the contrary, Captain Archbold does not believe a word he is saying responding with, “no man killed by the sea ever looked like that” (Conrad, 42). Phelan uses these passages to prove that the captain’s inability to decide for him self, saying “[the captain] never reaches the place where he assesses Leggatt’s current plight and less important than Leggatt’s bonding with him” (Phelan, 141). The captain is so focused on the new bond which he finds comfort in that he has disregarded the moral decision that is at hand. The captain is writing this story to reveal his secret, what that secret may be remains with the captain but according to Phelan’s essay it is the secret of his orientation. Although, Phelan supports his points with evidence the there remains doubt in whether captain and Leggatt really have these homosexual tendencies. Rather, what can be supported is the incapability of the captain to accept that Leggatt, this new comrade could commit such a heinous crime. Along with the captain’s refusal, he uses doubling to give him a sense of comfort and familiarity aboard the ship. The captain’s choice of reflecting on this event year’s later, shows that he still is wrestling with the moral dilemma he faced years in his past.