"The Secret Sharer"

English > Argument
Literature > English
Psychology

"The Secret Sharer"

This paper free-associates the meaning behind the story, "The Secret Sharer." It discusses the evolving relationship of the Captain and Legatt, which include his realization of the affect his actions can have on the lives of others.

930 words () | 3 sources | 2000 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the story "The Secret Sharer," and presents the thesis that perhaps Leggatt and the Captain shared a portion of their identities. The paper covers the captains growth, from a young man, when he was first made captain, and some of the choices he made during these earlier years, through events that shaped and influenced his later years.

From the Paper:

"This story throughout showed a Captain's growth and process through his right of passage, from being an inexperienced and uncertain young man to being an in-charge ship's Captain. He learned not only how to be a captain, but also discovered who his inner self was. He learned to make moral decisions as well as decisions pertaining to the running of the ship without fear of what the shipmates would think. Although in his youth he had much more wisdom than the Captain of the Sephora who had the experience of thirty and seven years, but never became a confident man who believed in himself, because he acted as a coward and then lied about Leggatt who had witnessed his cowardice, in order to preserve his own reputation."