Character Analysis
Only the Lonely
The narrator of this story is a pretty open book when it comes to his anxieties and fears. He opens his story by telling us that he's a newbie when it comes to being a captain:
"In consequence of certain events of no particular significance, except to myself, I had been appointed to the command only a fortnight before. Neither did I know much of the hands forward." (1.7)
He understands that the men on his ship have been together a long time and have gotten to know one another. This fact makes him feel like an outsider, which is only made worse by the fact that he's alienated from his crew by the authority he holds over them.
The captain's loneliness and alienation don't just extend to the other men on his boat. They actually apply to him, too:
But what I felt most was my being a stranger to the ship; and if all truth must be told, I was somewhat of a stranger to myself. (1.7)
In other words, the captain has trouble recognizing himself in his new situation as captain. We even get a sense here that not everything is right in the guy's mind.
Well Look Who's Got a Friend
From the moment he meets Leggatt, the narrator can sense that there's a close connection between himself and this stranger. He compares himself to Leggatt in terms of appearance and personality, and even calls the guy his "other self" at several points in the story:
I gazed upon my other self for a while before drawing across carefully the two green serge curtains which ran on a brass rod. (1.99)
These sorts of comments definitely get readers wondering whether Leggatt is even a real person or just a figment of the narrator's imagination.
Once the narrator has decided to hide and protect Leggatt, his feelings of paranoia around his crew only get worse and worse. Listen to what he says he feels when he tries to whisper to Leggatt:
The Sunday quietness of the ship was against us; the elements, the men were against us—everything was against us in our secret partnership. (2.63)
This constant belief that things are conspiring against him makes the narrator come across as paranoid and even a bit crazy. But Conrad never confirms one way or the other if Leggatt is an imaginary friend.
Trickster
The narrator might often come across as simple and inexperienced, but he shows just how cunning he can be when he's trying to hide Leggatt from the outside world. When Leggatt's skipper comes looking for him, for example, the narrator has the good sense to fake deafness so Leggatt can overhear everything the skipper is saying:
As he persisted in his mumbling and I wanted my double to hear every word, I hit upon the notion of informing him that I regretted to say I was hard of hearing. (2.5)
This is pretty sneaky stuff, and super valuable for helping Leggatt make his decision to swim for a nearby island later in the story.
Toward the end of the story, the narrator also needs to make up a story about looking for wind when he orders his crew to sail as close as possible to some nearby Pacific islands. The truth is that he's trying to give Leggatt the best chance of swimming for shore, but he hides this info from his crew, simply saying:
At midnight I went on deck, and to my mate's great surprise put the ship round on the other tack. (2.115)
The decision almost gets him and his entire crew killed. But in the end, he feels like he's done the right thing by trying to save his only friend.
The Captain's Timeline