Poe is a great poet and short story writer, but his only novel doesn’t turn out too well. He wrote because money was needed; and instead of adhering to the lofty standards of art, he indulged the popular taste.
Poe’na is not his only prediction in his shorter works. Chopin wrote some excellent works and nocturnes, but his longer piano works were not so highly regarded. And Horace the genius of the poet in his works, as the best odes. He freely admitted that this was so. For this reason, when he was asked to write an epic, he flatly refused and recommended his comrade Varus, whose work unfortunately perished.
The title of Poe’s New is ” Arthur Gordon Pym’s Narrative of Nantucket.” A sea voyage in which Pym experiences one crisis after another. Poe imagines that Pym himself wrote most of the story – everything except the opening chapters and the concluding note.
With the help of his friend Augustus, Pym becomes a stoma on a ship called the Grampus. Augustus hid him below in the castle, where the goods were stored. Pym provided himself with such necessities as food and drink and a mattress on which he slept.
At length Pym’s food flowed, and Augustus came no further defeated. Pym decided to go back to the boat, but he couldn’t open the trap door because it was too heavy. it is imposed. there was a real danger of perishing for want of food.
At last Augustus, when he could afford help, found himself in the midst of a second crisis. Having mutinied on board, he killed all the innocent sailors except Augustus. Pym had to be hidden, but at least he had food.
Fortunately, there was a disagreement among the rebels whether they were to become pirates or not. With the help of Theoderic Peter, who disliked the concept of piracy, Augustus and Pym regained control of the ship. All the pirates were killed except one named Parker, who surrendered. Augustus was badly wounded in the battle.
A violent storm led to another crisis. but the ship had also lost much of her armament, and the lower part of the ship, in which the food was kept, was filled with water. Because of the cheerfulness of the goods, the ship does not sink; but it was unsuccessfully floated in the stern.
At last the four survivors were in danger of starvation and thirst. An initial attempt to retrieve food from the store ended in failure.
Parker proposed cannibalism as a means of survival. He urged the lots to decide who would be eaten in the middle. Pym’s opinion was opposed, but there were more. He drew four straws. Parker drew the short straw and became food for others.
At last hunger and thirst threatened them again. Perhaps Pym remembered that he had placed the ax in a suitable place and was able to retrieve it. They followed the route by boat to the pen and recovered some supplies.
The wound which Augustus suffered was not healed. It progressed worse and eventually resulted in death.
Finally, two survivors were picked up from a British ship called the John Guy. This vessel was for trading and catching seals in the South Sea and Pacific. He was under the command of Guy, the captain, intemperately.
The ship was still in the Atlantic when Pym and Peters picked it up. He sailed east past the Cape of Good Hope and landed on the island of Kerguelen. Then the leader, wavering, decided to return west to the group of islands called Tristan da Cunha in the Southern Ocean. Thence to the south.
At that time Antarctica had not yet been discovered. Captain Cook and the others sailed far south, but had to turn back when the road was blocked by ice. Thus Poe was able to imagine his own polar geography. In addition, Poe influenced the theories of John Cleves Symmes, who thought that a softer field of air existed beyond the southern ice, and that strong ocean waters flowed to the South Pole, where the vortex descended to the center of the earth.
After trying in vain to locate some elusive islands called Auroras, Jane Guy arrived south to the polar region like a balm. Today the ship is traveling south at a reasonably fast rate. When they were less than 17 degrees from the South Pole, they encountered islands in the middle of the dark sea. The name of the island is Tsalal.
The furries of the island pretended to be friends, and for several days they pretended to be. When the ship was about to depart, the captains of the sailors saluted their last fort. Six sailors remained on board; the rest went with the barbarians.
it was a trap. When the sailors were in the narrow heights on either side, the natives caused the mountain to fall, which killed all but Pym and Dirk Peter. The two survivors were terrified, but managed to climb to the top. Then the unarmed natives attacked John the Guy in the boats and rafts, killed the sailors on board, and took many useful articles on board.
Then the barbarians set fire to the ship. Since they knew nothing about the explosives, many remained in the vicinity. When the inevitable explosion took place, many of the barbarians died and nearly two of their boats were destroyed.
Pym and Peter were still beset by dangers. For many days they could not descend from the high road. They found a little to eat, but the food was unsuitable, and was scarcely made. A desperate descent from a precipitous rock. Pym almost died in the process.
Fortunately the two remaining boats were unescorted. The barbarians ran in pursuit of them. They took one canoe; and after hesitation it was decided to prevent the other from pursuing. When they fled, they killed several of the natives, and took one prisoner.
The current carried the boat to the south to the warm, white-colored sea. Captivated by the trembling country, the bottom of the boat trembled. The sea became warmer, and the boat approached like a white curtain or waterfall, and gigantic white birds came into view from beyond this veil. The native captive died in terror.
As the canoe approached the waterfall and plunged into the gap, it was confronted by a giant white human figure.
At this point the narrative breaks off. The concluding note explains that Pym, who had somehow survived and returned home, died before he could finish the story.
The note also explains the activities of the inhabitants of Tsalal. They had a fear of color, so they felt they had to kill their white-haired guests. It is from this that the body of the dead man was taken captive by a huge bird and carried over the great Candida bridge.
Reference
“Arthur Gordon Pym and Related Tales”; Edgar Allan Poe; J. Gerald Kennedy, editor
