Point of View

The narrator of "The Secret Sharer" is the captain. Typical of Conrad, the story revolves around this character's reflection on past experience in order to understand himself better. Because of the thematic focus of the story, that of a man in search of identity and understanding, the narrator is often seen as unreliable; that is, because of his preoccupations, he is not always perceiving events in a clear and non-judgmental way. The captain remains nameless throughout the story, suggesting that he be viewed as a representation of the rite of passage each person must experience.

Style and Structure

Conrad's style is seemingly simple: the story revolves around only a few events. However, the meaning of the story is complicated and ambiguous. Though the story is ostensibly about a murder, an escaped sailor and the relationship between two men who appear to mirror each other, it becomes...