Leggatt as an Independent Character in Joseph Conrad's "The Secret Sharer" This essay examines Leggatt as an independent person, rather than as a symbol connected to the captain-narrator, a view shared by many critics. Leggatt is not a negative influence on the captain per se. From an objective point of view, it can be seen that Leggatt's portrayal depends entirely on how the captain (as narrator) perceives him, and that he deserves to be treated as the individual being that he is. Many of Conrad's critics, most notably Albert J. Guerard , Robert W. Stallmann , have taken the view that Leggatt, of th