Common Themes in The Secret Sharer, Heart of Darkness and The Shadow LineJoseph Conrad's stories The Secret Sharer, Heart of Darkness and The Shadow Line share a number themes. All three stories deal with a maturation process that involves the loss of youthful illusions, a process usually precipitated by an actual "trial" that challenges the protagonist's professional skills as well as his assumptions about his identity and mental health. By successfully facing the crisis, the protagonist rebuilds his identity and develops moral ideas rooted in the recognition of his own human weaknesses and those of others and therefore of the necessary interdependence of men. Each story is told from the point of view of a narrator: Marlow. in Heart of Darkness and an unnamed captain during his first command in The Secret Sharer and The Shadow Line. All display a naive or idealized view of the world. Marlow chooses to go to the Congo because, since his childhood, this part of Africa has always “charmed” him. When the narrator of The Shadow Line unexpectedly wins command of a ship replacing a recently deceased captain, he longs to go "to sea. The sea, which was pure, safe, and friendly" (96). Similarly, the narrator of The Secret Sharer prematurely rejoices in “the great security of the sea” (23). The three narrators are also solitary characters. The two new captains are isolated by their position; they cannot become intimate with their men without risking losing their respect, and Marlow is culturally isolated in the African jungle. Each narrator is faced with a real physical ordeal. The new captain of The Shadow Line discovers, at sea and with a crew suffering from tropical fevers, that the "crazy" for...... middle of paper...... stress. At the same time, by temporarily allowing themselves to be seduced, then examining and separating the errors from their doubles, the narrators draw new conclusions and integrate new knowledge not only about themselves but about the responsibilities and realities of the roles they play. 'they chose. Marlow announces that he "remained loyal to Kurtz to the end" (149), and the captain of The Shadow Line admits that survival would not have been possible without his dedicated crew who are "worthy of [his] respect eternal” (120). A glimpse of these signs of a maturity which recognizes the interdependence of men can also be found in the anonymous captain's final gesture towards Leggatt in offering him the white hat. This expression of compassion for Leggatt's "mere flesh" saves the ship and indicates that he has emerged from his self-centered isolation to begin learning to lead his men..