Joseph Conrad's work is apparently a staple of the 20th century British canon. Few literature students make their way to a degree without being exposed to his iconic short story Heart of Darkness. While it is undeniably a powerful piece of writing, the analysis of its themes has been so repetitive and overwrought that one begins to wonder whether it truly deserves its place in the canon. In contrast, Conrad's later work, namely the short story entitled The Secret Sharer, offers a much more subtle and nuanced approach to similar themes. Although currently less popular than Heart of Darkness, The Secret Sharer is far more worthy of analysis and therefore more deserving of a place in the British literary canon. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To first determine whether a work belongs in a canon, we must first contemplate what exactly a canon is. In his essay “An Idea and an Ideal of a Literary Canon,” Charles Altieri paraphrases Frank Kermode when he says: “…canons are essentially strategic constructs by which societies maintain their interests, since the canon allows for control on the texts of a culture". takes seriously and the interpretive methods that establish what 'serious' means." In other words, each collection of canonical literature is a carefully controlled presentation of the values ​​of a culture or subculture; it is a direct reflection of the way a select group perceives himself. At first glance, this makes The Secret Sharer seem oddly juxtaposed with the rest of the British canon. It was not written by a native Briton, although Conrad was ultimately a naturalized citizen, and so it is difficult to argue that it is a direct reflection of the. British values ​​or ideals. Beyond that, the story's themes of questionable morality and the underlying human psyche do not cast British cultural values ​​in a positive light, which brings us to the question: The Secret Sharer serves as a representation of British culture ?The answer will unequivocally determine whether the story deserves a place in the British canon, so an analysis of its themes is necessary. At the beginning of The Secret Sharer, we meet an unnamed speaker who describes his surroundings in the first few lines. at sea. The main themes of the story are hinted at in the final sentence of the introductory paragraph, when the speaker says, “And then I was left alone with my ship, anchored at the head of the Gulf of Siam” (Conrad 4). In as few words as possible, this tells us what we need to know. The speaker describes it as his ship, revealing to us that he is the captain. He mentions loneliness, which becomes one of the overarching issues in the whole story. He eventually reveals his whereabouts, which is much more important to the message of the story than it might initially seem. The story is set in the Gulf of Siam, which is now known as the Gulf of Thailand. Interestingly, Thailand is one of the lucky eastern countries to escape colonization. While on the surface themes of colonialism appear to be more present in some of Conrad's other works, there is a carefully woven undercurrent of colonialist and imperialist attitudes in The Secret Sharer that ultimately shapes the story. The setting is important for its implications: although Thailand may never have been colonized, the British seafaring presence undoubtedly suggests their presence in the surrounding countries. The speaker's vessel is representative of one of many vessels in constant transit between these colonized lands and the British homeland. This brings us to Conrad's decision toappoint a newly appointed captain as the speaker. It is quickly revealed to us that the speaker is quite insecure, despite his new position. This creates the sense that the speaker is an everyman and is in a position of power, suggesting that his actions throughout the story could reflect the actions of anyone (or, at least, any Western male) in the same position. In this regard, the characterization hints at Western morality on a larger scale, and so we begin to see how it might fit into the British canon. Of course, the speaker is not the driving force of the story, although he helps shape our perception of it. It is the presence of a stranger aboard the ship that sets the events of The Secret Sharer in motion. When the speaker first meets the stranger, he describes him like this: “With a start I saw a pair of feet, long legs, a broad livid back immersed up to the neck in a greenish cadaverous glow reveal themselves to my gaze. With one wet hand he clung to the bottom rung of the ladder. It was complete except for the head. A headless corpse” (Corrado 7)! Almost immediately, the speaker realizes that the man has a head and is very much alive, but this initial encounter is key to understanding the perception of the stranger who follows. Leggatt, as we learn he is called, also plays the role of the everyman; his initial perceived headless state represents the ambiguity and fluidity of his identity. It immediately becomes a filler, onto which the speaker projects his own perception of himself. This becomes more relevant when Leggatt's crimes are revealed. The speaker chooses to abuse his new power by harboring aboard his ship a fugitive who committed murder, which has long been considered one of the most heinous crimes. The ultimate reason for what he speaks seems to lie in the similarities to himself that he sees in Leggatt. This ties into the undercurrent of colonial themes within Conrad's work. It is the perfect representation of the implicit prejudice present in Western cultures, whereby those who are perceived as “similar” are excused for even the most heinous actions, while those labeled “other” are ostracized and even criminalized for arbitrariness. . The speaker who acts as a shield for Leggatt because they are "similar" is symbolic of the willful ignorance and justification of Western cultures as a whole. The main conflict throughout the story revolves around the speaker's concealment of Leggatt. The question of whether the speaker will reveal Leggatt to his companions or allow him to escape without answering for his crimes parallels the idea of ​​facing one's demons or ignoring them. The speaker shares his feelings on the subject when he says, “I was extremely tired, in a peculiarly intimate way, from the strain of stealth, from the effort of whispering, and from the general secrecy of this excitement” (Conrad 15). Although this seems to suggest that the speaker is tired of hiding things and wants to deal with the matter, he ultimately decides to help Leggatt escape. The speaker essentially ignored his demons. He never admits his actions in hiding Leggatt, but ironically the sequence of events leads to the speaker gaining the trust of his crew anyway. This suggests one of the great problems of Western culture; it is often considered more acceptable to “save face” than to admit that you have done something wrong. Presentation is often valued above virtue, and this is exactly the case with the speaker of The Secret Sharer. Although he aided an assassin in his escape, he is ultimately pleased with himself because he has earned the respect of his shipmates. Please note: this is just one.