Oct 12, 2008
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym | The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
At a glance:
- Author: Edgar Allan Poe
- First Published: 1838
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fantasy—cultural exploration
- Time of Work: June, 1827-March, 1828
- Setting: The South Seas and the Antarctic Ocean
- Genres: Long fiction, Adventure, Fantasy, Gothic fiction
- Subjects: Voyages, Nineteenth century, Islands, Storms, Ships, Sailing or sailors, Sea or seafaring life, Adventure, Horror, South Pacific, Pacific Ocean, Cannibalism, Mutiny
- Locales: Oceans, Antarctica, Nantucket Island
The Plot
Edgar Allan Poe seems to have been uncertain, initially, how to structure his only novel. The
Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym first appeared as a conventional first-person fictive work when
the opening four chapters were serialized. When the novel was published in completed form the
following year, however, Poe added a foreword and an endnote, the purpose of which were to
convince readers that Pym’s fantastic accounts were true. Pym, through unusual
circumstances, traveled the South Seas to the 84th parallel, farther south than anyone had gone
before. He...
[The entire page is 1258 words long]
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