The Secret Sharer

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A thematic comparison between Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Sharer and Dave Mathews Band’s Halloween


Conrad’s novel, The Secret Sharer, takes the reader into the unconscious mind of man through his struggle with self-discovery, and his relationship with a doppelganger in his quest to find the correct balance between the light and dark. Similarly, in the song Halloween, by the Dave Mathews Band, the listener is brought along for the ride as a person labors in confusion between the light and dark sides of his/ her life, struggling to find what feels right.


The young captain, narrator of the story, encounters his soon to be doppelganger, Legatt, one eerie night at the ladder of his ship. Confused as to what to do, he decides to give the man refuge on the boat, and the relationship begins. This captain begins to see himself mirrored in Legatt, as hard as he tries not to, for Legatt is a murderer and the young captain is anxious about the consequences if he exposed himself to this man. At first the captain views the naked Legatt as a character stripped to the essence of human nature and void of all rationality. With a gasp I saw revealed to my stare a pair of feet, the long legs, a broad livid back immersed right up to the neck in a greenish cadaverous glow . . . He was complete but for the head. A headless corpse! On the contrary, although he is mostly described as evil and mysterious at first, the mention of the glow he is emitting hints that some goodness is to be found in what he will introduce to the captain. Seeking guidance and direction, the captain is brought through a passage of self- discovery, looking for the needed balance in his life that will be given to him through his relationship with Legatt. Prior to this encounter, the vulnerable captain finds himself alone on the deck of the ship, with duty of watch guard for the night. “The riding light in the fore-rigging burned with a clear, untroubled, as if symbolic, flame, confident and bright in the mysterious shades of night.” Symbolic of the clean, naïve nature of the captain, this light shines in innocence in the beginning, yet as the captain will soon discover, in times of need a balance is needed, and his acceptance of the lighter side of human nature as the only truth and goodness, would soon be put into jeopardy. In a concrete parallel, the opening of the Halloween appears as if a confused person is slowly building up to the struggle he is about to face. The song soon builds in tempo and intensity as the subject is opened up to a darker side of life, a needed but troublesome exposure. At the beginning of the song, and at the beginning of the captain’s relationship with Legatt, the reader/ listener is opened up to the feelings of confusion and angst both the captain and the subject of the song are experiencing, as they each are drawn into the darker side of human nature.


As the relationship between Legatt and the captain grows, the captain is discovering a new- found confidence and adequacy that he never knew he possessed. Legatt, representing the repressed, idiosyncratic side of the captain, subconsciously aids in the captain’s diversion from the socially acceptable, and into the realm of the confident individual required of an efficient captain. Yet throughout this process, the captain still attempts to resist this change and holds onto elements in his life that symbolize the lighter, more structured side of nature. The white hat that the captain insists on wearing throughout the story symbolizes his struggle in parting with the goodness that once typified his nature. Throughout the song Halloween, the subject also experiences distinct periods of light throughout his journey into darkness, as the song’s intensity and fortitude of tone are broken up by slight riffs of softer, more jovial sounding rhythms. These slight breaks in the journey emphasize the subject’s trouble in fully accepting the darker side of life. However, in both works, by the end of the journey, the subject parts with their prior attachments to goodness, and accepts that he must be opened up to the darkness of mankind in order to grow and develop properly and entirely. The captain finally parts with the hat, showing that sometimes it is necessary to get in touch with the darker aspects of mankind. Likewise, at the close of Halloween the subject soon breaks all ties to goodness as the tone permanently shifts to the purely intense and passionate melody. The powerful rhythm of this melody then almost blends with a positive, confident quality, showing the subject’s acceptance of the darkness he/ she had experienced.





The works of both Conrad and Dave Mathews exemplify man’s journey of self- discovery and his struggle to accept darkness and the unknown. The young captain in The Secret Sharer is introduced to a man who represents the repressed nature of the captain. Through their relationship, the captain is exposed to a side of himself he never knew existed, and in the end is better off for it. In Halloween, the listener is exposed to the emotions of a man as he is torn between light and dark temperament, and his struggle to accept the mysterious shadows of life. The works of both Conrad and Mathews successfully typify the emotional journey experienced by an individual when he confronts the unfamiliar in himself, and is beneficially changed as a result of his self- discovery.





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