Cesare Casarino wrote in his article "The sublime of the closet; or Joseph Conrad's secret sharing." That the secret that is shared with the reader is that the captain and Leggett are involved in a homoerotic relationship.

... in scenes replete with touching, groping, mingling, and clasping, "He caught hold of my arm, but the ringing of the supper bell made me start. He didn't though; he only released his grip" ... For whose glances "mingle" and whose hands meet "gropingly" and linger "united in a steady and motionless clasp" except the glances and hands of lovers? (C

The proof that Leggett and the narrator are involved in some kind of homosexual relationship seems to lack the evidence that many of the critics say it holds. The critics above all hold the same opinions even though the where using different theories to interpret the work. I believe that they may have latched on to an idea that was proposed by someone else and ran with it. Not that they did not have original ideas but they all relied on other articles to prove their point or to justify their views.

Casarino seems to use the language of the story to make his point. He makes assumptions that since Conrad uses certain words than he must have meant to give an underlying meaning, a "secret" meaning that I do not see. I am not familiar with Conrad's other works, but could this just be the writing style that Conrad uses? Could the writing style and words be common for the time when the "Secret Sharer" was written? These two ideas need to be considered before we start placing judgements on words. Casarino does not take these consideration into account.

James Phelan writes that the secret that the narrator is sharing with the reader is one that is covert. He goes on to say that as the story goes on the secret should be come more apparent to the reader. Mr. Phelan uses scenes to prove his point that seem odd to me. The section of the story that he uses that gives me the most problem is when the narrator sees his hat in the water. "... -- yes, I

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 984
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)