The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, of Nantucket
Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, of Nantucket, The,novelette by Poe, published in 1838. Like The Journal of Julius Rodman, it is an account of exploration and adventure, heightened by fictional additions, but based on fact. It is extensively paraphrased from Benjamin Morell's Narrative of Four Voyages to the South Seas and Pacific (1832) and a manual of seamanship, and owes its origin to a Report of the Committee on Naval Affairs (1836), concerning the expedition proposed by J.N. Reynolds, with whom Poe was acquainted. In the novelette, the fictitious Pym recounts his experiences as a passenger on the Grampus, which sailed from Nantucket for the South Seas in June 1827. Mutiny, shipwreck, and “horrible sufferings” are followed by a rescue and further sensational adventures in the Antarctic Ocean and on Pacific islands.
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