A Parallel Journey in the Orpheus Myth and The Secret Sharer
Storytelling has been a part of human life since before the art of writing. Among the earliest of these are the myths, exploring the hidden secrets of the universe, "the world's creation and its eventual destruction, the nature of other worlds, and the source and eventual destination of human life" (Eliade 24). Myths have become important as more than stories told by long dead people. They still have important messages for those willing to listen. They tell us universal truths about human nature and out place in the world. In the different myths of the world, there can be found many stories detailing the hero's (or heroine's) descent to the underworld. In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, mythologist Joseph Campbell identified detail the universal patterns and themes important in the tales of the hero's journey. One such story is the Greek tale of Orpheus, the extremely skilled musician who journeyed to Hades in order to retrieve his wife, Eurydice. Although he succeeds in rescuing her, he then loses her permanently when he disobeys the gods by turning around to make sure she is
The quests in both stories also share another commonality, the monomyth-the three stages their quests take place in: a separation, an initiation, and finally the return. It is important to realize that myths are not the only stories with these motifs. In both tales there are two halves, the married couple and the captain's double, that serve as rites of passage and psychological development. Sandwiched between those appearances, Conrad's ship and crew are overwhelmed by "the tide of darkness" (273). Similarly, Orpheus leaves behind the stars when he descends into the realms of death. At the conclusion of Orpheus' quest, we see a different person, one who is more aware-a representation of Jung's 'whole individual' as Hughes shows us in "The Lively Image". Using the Orpheus myth as a parallel not only allows the reader to identify with Conrad's narrator, but also illuminates and clarifies how Conrad's captain reaches self-fulfillment at the end of his quest. While the similarities at the start of their journeys are important in demonstrating the symbolism behind the quests, the return at the end are at least as important-if not even more so. At the end of the captain's quest, we are shown a man who has achieved an increased sense of self and self-control over both sides of his nature. From the beginning, the similarities stand out. Lastly, it is "in uniting Conrad's narrator and his double to both the Orpheus-Euridice pair, and the conscious-unconscious pair, that the conflict and cooperation between reason and chaos is forged, whereby the narrator gains 'reason's' mastery over his ship, as a consequence of the near 'mad' grounding of her inspired by the needs of his double" (Gifford 69).
Common topics in this essay:
Lively Image,
,
Secret Share,
Joseph Campbell,
Using Orpheus,
Similarly Orpheus,
Secret Sharer,
orpheus myth,
Hero Thousand,
myths stories,
conrad's narrator,
myth parallel,
secret sharer,
human life,
orpheus myth parallel,
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Acceptance Essays
