The article gives an interpretation of Joseph Conrad’s ‚The Secret Sharer‘ through a hermeneutically reflected close reading. By way of his pessimistic anthropology, Conrad develops an exceptional moral position that legitimizes the killing of one sailor under catastrophic circumstances in order to secure the survival of the rest of the ship’s crew. This moral view thus permits the suspension of the general law in order to maintain general legal order. The positions of Leggatt (the murderer) and Archbold (the representative of general law) should not be seen as contradictory here as their perspectives are equally valid.