Main Themes In The Secret Sharer By Joseph Conrad

The truth seems to be apart of everyday life, or at least that's the way people want it to be. Life is never full of truth, there are going to be lies and deceit amongst everyone, everywhere. Whether it be the rich of England or the poor in Africa. Some lies are to try to protect the feelings of others, some are to protect the survival of the one telling the lie. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the truth is avoided in order to protect the wellbeing of others through the examples of Marlow, painting of the woman, and Kurtz.

    Literature is never interpreted in exactly the same way by two different readers. A prime example of a work of literature that is very ambiguous is Joseph Conrad's, "Heart of Darkness". The Ambiguities that exist in this book are Marlow's relationship to colonialism, Marlow's changing feelings toward Kurtz, and Marlow's lie to the Intended at the end of the story.

“Oh, propriety...We’re always so concerned with propriety. Even in total madness, we will stick to our hierarchies and chains of command.” This concept--human concern with fitting societal standards and hierarchies--is a clear theme in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Even as ivory transporter Charles Marlow journeys into Central Africa, a land described as “mad” and “savage”, those around him remain primarily interested in maintaining a set image and social standards, a strange concept amidst such perceived “madness”. This obsession with propriety in Heart of Darkness is seen through the anomalous character development of both Kurtz and Marlow, and the Company’s response. Overall, this contributes to a larger meaning explored by the novel--the question of good and evil and whether or not the two are truly distinguishable.

A captain is an individual who takes leadership and responsibility in a vessel. People think that a captain can just be found in large ships; however, captains are necessary in any kind of boat, ship, or yacht. Therefore, in the story Crane gives the authority to the captain. The captain is the one in charge in the boat and the one that gives directions to the other three men. Throughout the story we can see that the other three men respected the captain and his decisions. If the three men wanted to something, they would first consulted with the captain before doing it. After the sinking of the boat, the captain was really devastated because it was his responsibility and he fail. In the beginning of the story Cranes defines the captain very sad and with the impotence of not being able to do anything. (Crane, page

The Captain of the ship struggles to maintain his ideal masculine self, but is seen as a weaker and an effeminate character in the eyes of his crew. He is seen as a stranger to the ship but most importantly to himself. “All these people had been together for eighteen months or so, and my position was that of the only stranger on board… I was somewhat of a stranger to myself...but I wondered how for I should turn out faithful to that ideal conception of one’s own personality”(21,Conrad). Early on we see that the captain lacks his masculinity and is not seen powerful and is insecure about his true self- his effeminate character. The captain wants to be like any other captain strong and manly, but struggles to be his ideal self, the great and powerful captain that every ship has, a captain that holds power in the eyes of his crew man. Other ways we see this was when the captain himself was commanded to close the porthole of the ship. “Close your port sir, they are washing

During the journey, the crew took turns rowing the boat and remained complacent with the captain by following his orders. The best evidence of comradery is displayed when the captain refused help from the man on the shore after having swum to land and instead selflessly redirected the man’s attention to his crew mate in need. The crew were overjoyed for being saved by the man and the land, but were very dismissive of them both at first. The crew argued repeatedly over whether or not the land they were seeing was worth landing on. The crew was also ignorant towards the signs on land indicating that the people there wanted to help save them. This ignorance for the truth is a metaphor for not trusting in a supernatural being played by the

The captain is a man named De Vreiss and is very lax with rules and regulations but still manages to keep the ship run more efficiently than even the most disciplined ship. Keith is displeased with this and is therefore pleased with the new captain Queeg. Queeg is the opposite of De Vreiss and is very strict but does not run the ship well. He manages to hit a ship in harbor and cut his own towline. This leads to command not trusting him so he is sent to San Francisco for modifications and upgrades.

What makes Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness more than the run of the mill adventure tale, is its moral complexity. By the end of the novel, we find a protagonist who has immense appreciation for a man who lacks honest redemption, the mysterious Mr. Kurtz. It is the literal vivaciousness and unyielding spirit of this man, his pure intentionality, which Marlow finds so entrancing and which leaves the reader with larger questions regarding the human capacity. Therefore, Heart of Darkness is profoundly different given its character complexity and ambiguous narrative technique which ultimately deliver home a message of the complex motivations and capabilities of mankind.

Throughout its entirety, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness utilizes many contrasts and paradoxes in an attempt to teach readers about the complexities of both human nature and the world. Some are more easily distinguishable, such as the comparison between civilized and uncivilized people, and some are more difficult to identify, like the usage of vagueness and clarity to contrast each other. One of the most prominent inversions contradicts the typical views of light and dark. While typically light is imagined to expose the truth and darkness to conceal it, Conrad creates a paradox in which darkness displays the truth and light blinds us from it.

In The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad, we as readers are introduced to the captain and a former first mate of another ship who has been arrested for murder of another crew member, whose name is Legatt. We learn of the captain's elaborate plan to hide Legatt to avoid his capture.

Many critics note that Conrad's irony reflects a pessimistic perspective of the British society in The Secret Agent. Conrad's perspective is reflective of a society still reeling from the traumatizing social effects of industrialization. Walter Wright observes that London's drab streets and barren ugliness reveal the futility of life (189-190), and impersonal fate's destruction of individuals further reveals life's emptiness (197). From Wright's perspective, the life without control or choice in The Secret Agent is a life without meaning. Rosenfield

Beyond the shield of civilization and into the depths of a primitive, untamed frontier lies the true face of the human soul. It is in the midst of this savagery and unrelenting danger that mankind confronts the brooding nature of his inner self.  Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness, is the story of one man's insight into life as he embarks on a voyage to the edges of the world. Here, he meets the bitter, yet enlightening forces that eventually shape his outlook on life and his own individuality. Conrad’s portrayal of the characters, setting, and symbols, allow the reader to reflect on the true nature of man.

Heart of Darkness is written by Joseph Conrad and published in 1899. It is a novella written in the early modernism literary period.

The two major themes of Heart of Darkness are the conflict between “reality” and “darkness,” and the idea of restraint and whether or not it is necessary. Conrad’s passage describing the restraint of the hungry cannibals exemplifies both themes:  It describes how reality shapes human behavior, and contrasts the characters of Kurtz and Marlow.  “Reality,” as it is used here, is defined as “that which is civilized.”

It has been said that although Conrad may not have been 'the greatest novelist, he was certainly the greatest artist every to write a novel';. I feel that this is an apt description of Conrad's writing style in Heart of Darkness (1902), as he paints many verbal pictures by using expressive words and many figurative descriptions of places and people. An extensive use of words relating to colour, is evident throughout the novella. The idea of darkness (and light) is emphasized from the title of the novella, and continues to play an important role throughout in the story .