Review: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 9, 2014
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, Poe's only novel, is a nautical adventure with elements of science fiction and horror. It reads like a series of brilliantly told stories somewhat arbitrarily connected and capped by an abrupt and mystifying ending.The story takes place in 1835-36. Pym, a young New Englander, desires to go to sea with a friend, Augustus, whose father captains a whaling brig. Pym's relatives refuse him permission, so Augustus helps him stow away in the hold. Pym's confinement in the dark, unhealthy hold last days longer than he expects, and he fears he will die there, alone and forgotten. Finally Augustus gets word to him that there has been a mutiny, and that Augustus, because of his youth, had been the only non-mutineer allowed to remain alive on board the vessel.There follows a succession of adventures involving a counter-mutiny, a storm, a shipwreck, and a prolonged survival ordeal at sea. Pym eventually finds himself on board another ship which is off to explore the Antarctic in the hope of finding some previously undiscovered land where there are seals to hunt or natives to trade with. His adventures have only begun. Each episode in the novel is told briskly with edge-of-the-seat tension. Poe's descriptions are as vivid and rousing as any nautical adventure I have read.At the time of Poe's writing, a number of European and American expeditions had attempted to determine if there was an Antarctic continent. Most had been turned back by ice. Two or three explorers had only recently come upon dry land within the Antarctic circle, but were unable to determine if these were the shores of a continent or just isolated islands. There had been some reports or rumors that the waters actually grew warmer as one approached the pole, leading to speculations about hidden tropical civilizations. Others believed that the Earth was hollow, and that the poles were the points of entry to a second world inside. Poe recaps much of this in the novel, and Pym and his companions make discoveries that begin to hint that some the wildest theories may be true.The science fiction elements of the novel are found in the "lost world" idea, though this surfaces only in the final chapters. The horror elements are found in the terror of premature burial (a common theme in Poe's short stories) and in the superstitious fear of the reanimated dead. But there is nothing overtly supernatural in the novel.There are two objectionable aspects to the novel. One is the abrupt and unsatisfying ending which has frustrated and mystified readers since its original publication. The other is the strong presence of racial stereotypes. I found myself, while reading the novel, unable to put it down and wondering why it has been so neglected relative to Poe's poems and stories. The puzzling ending is the answer to that question, but it remains a memorable reading experience.