The qualities of leadership described by Joseph Conrad in the short novel The Shadow-Line are rooted in the ability of the individual to be a leader of himself. That is, the lesson to be learned by Captain Giles and the narrator is a lesson having to do first with the mastery of the self, and only second with the leadership of others. Before a man (the story deals only with men) can lead other men, he must first learn to lead himself. Before he can lead himself, he must know himself. Therefore, the story is a tale of men journeying through the turbulent seas of the self as much as it is a tale of men journeying through the turbulent (or sometimes unnervingly calm) seas of the external world.
In the first place, Conrad makes clear again and again that leadership is something to be mightily desired, particularly by the narrator and Captain Giles: "As soon as I had convinced myself that this stale, unprofitable world of my discontent contained . . . a command to be seized, I recovered my powers of locomotion" (28). The narrator declares that "Command is a strong magic" (29). The question the book deals with is what a man does once he takes over the leadership of a ship and the men on it. To Conrad, such a magical and turbulent situation gives a man the chance to discover himself, his morality, his very soul. Conrad gives no indication that there is anything intrinsically dangerous with leadership. What is dangerous is a leader who does not know and command himself.
The narrator has little but disdain, even contempt, for a man who is obviously distraught. The narrator shows contempt for the man, but Giles suggests compassion. The narrator concludes that the man is suffering from some "sort of complicated debauch" which "had reduced him to that unspeakable condition. Captain Giles' benevolence was spoiled by a curious air of complacency which I disliked" (16).
In short, we have a younger man, the narrator, who regards an older ...