Comparing the Orpheus Myth and Conrads The Secret Sharer :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Parallels in the Orpheus Myth and Conrads The Secret sharer The fable of Orpheus and his descent into the blaze is paralleled in Joseph Conrads The Secret Sharer, revealing a common theme, the narrators self-fulfillment by dint of the conclusion of his emblematic and inward quest. This parallel, which may be called archetypal, serves to increase the exhibiters moxie of identification with Conrads narrator, and it lends an otherworldly tone to the work as a whole. Likewise, these echoes of orphic material lead the reader through three stages. These are a modern and secular rendition of the descent into the unknown, followed by a symbolic rebirth or rejoining of the fractured portions of the complete self, and finally the parting with the previous self that obviously existed in the initial state. The reader finds an initial parallel between the myth and story through Conrads sea, as compared to Orpheus underworld, along with the surface of the quest motif. The direct in The S ecret Share is described as at the get-go point of a long move around (Conrad 273), and as being very(prenominal) still in an immense stillness.... where nothing moved, and nothing lived (273). I read the stillness of the sea and the absence of life is an allusion to the stillness of decease, which is the realm Orpheus takes his journey to, before turning homeward. Moreover, the stars are described in this opening scene, nevertheless do not reappear in the story until after the deflexion of the secret sharer the narrators Euridice or hidden self (this hidden self picture closely reflects the double nature of the sharer as well). Between these two appearances of the stars, which could only open in an overworld, the ship and its crew as consumed by the tide of repulsiveness (273) that encompasses the vessel, much as Orpheus leaves behind the stars when he descends into the realm of death in Hades. On a symbolic level, both the Orpheus myth and The Secret Sharer use the journey as a rite of passage, or a rebirth into a greater state of self-knowledge. Orpheus comes to know the reality of death and the limitations of his powers, while Conrads narrator makes a transition from being a fantastic to the ship..., untried as yet by a position of the fullest indebtedness (273) such that the comfort of quiet sacramental manduction... was gone for good (273), to the perfect communion of a sea with his first command (113 italics mine).