Character Analysis of Poe's Longest Work

In The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, the characters are essential to bringing out the gothic side of the story, and they have a lot of common and different characteristics that represent the gothic literature's essentials. Arthur Gordon Pym, the protagonist, is one of the foremost because many qualities can be found in him.

Arthur Gordon Pym

Arthur Gordon Pym is the protagonist and storyteller in the book. He is a young man full of a desire for adventure. In classic novels, the protagonist or storytellers narrate their stories ordinarily. But here, the unreliable narration is seen because of the emotional fluctuations of the narrator and extraordinary events. Pym's soul, mind, and narration are between despair and hope. Yet, this style is not an alarming fact for gothic literature and Poe's style; this is a momentous feature of Poe's gothic fiction because the mysterious narration of Pym drags the reader into an enigmatic atmosphere until the story is over. As already mentioned above, Poe wants to isolate the reader from the real world and rejects didacticism. The story is full of terror and riddle, and this narration redoubles the mystery that awakens in the reader's mind. In the preface of the book, Pym talks about his story. He says that; ‘’I could only hope for belief among my family and those of my friends who have had a reason, through life, to put faith in my veracity…’’ (Poe, p.5,2021). This doubt, which begins in the preface, merges with fear later on and leaves a unique feeling of fear in the reader's soul. This is not the only sentence containing unbelievable content; he forgets to mention most of the events that he mentioned a while ago, such as his dog, Tiger. Additionally, In Arthur Gordon Pym's mind, the curiosity for dark and gothic in the soul of man may be viewed although he is a very noble and plain-looking man. For instance, he says; ‘’For the bright side of the painting I had limited sympathy. My visions were of shipwreck and famine; of death or captivity among barbarian hordes...’’ (p.20). Although he may seem like the sanest character in the story, the gothic part of his mind is evident. As mentioned above, a character's dark world, his or her obsessive thoughts, and acts are also considered significant issues in gothic literature. In other respects, one of the most notable features of Pym is to convey his feelings to the reader as powerfully as the waves of the ocean that he is on. It is an indisputable fact that Edgar Allan Poe appeals to emotions in his works; Pym takes the responsibility for this task in this story. He uses the story as a mirror to narrate his feelings in a gothic way. For example, this quote can be regarded;

‘’In vain I attempted to reason on the probable cause of my being thus entombed. I could summon up no connected chain of reflection, and, sinking on the floor, gave way unresistingly, to the most gloomy imaginings, in which the dreadful deaths of thirst, famine, suffocation, and premature interment, crowded upon me as the prominent disasters to be encountered.’’ (p.36)

On the other hand, the words' harmony in the quote can be seen. As it was discussed above, in Poe's works, every word has a duty; the words have to preserve the gothic atmosphere of the story. Every word in the story of Pym almost defines the feeling of horror. In conclusion, even the sane protagonist can reflect most of the horror elements in the story and the principles of Edgar Allan Poe by himself. But there are many more characters that are full of gothic elements. 

It is said that everyone has an evil side; this judgment is proper because no human being is pure. This phenomenon can be observed in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this story, Mr. Hyde is physically small, but the villain dark and ugly side Dr. Jekyll. As might be seen, people have a small but villain side, but Dirk Peters does not have two characteristics; he is just like the twin of Mr. Hyde, and the physical appearance of Peters is small and scary. Peters is the embodiment of the little dark side of humans. The narrator describes it as follows; ‘’Peters himself was one of the most purely ferocious-looking men I ever beheld. He was shot in stature-not more than four feet eight inches high-but his limbs were of the most Herculean mold…The mouth extended nearly from ear to ear.’’(p.54) As expected from this depiction, Peters killed someone for cannibalism. It can be assumed that Peters is not sympathetic as the other characters created by Poe.

Augustus Bernard & The Captain Bernard

Augustus is their best friend of Pym, and his father is the captain of the Grampus. The captain casts away when the riot starts; on the other hand, his son Augustus dies in the Grampus. The curse theme is popular in gothic literature. Most gothic books have this theme. Thanks to these people, 'curse' is one of the most influential gothic themes that can be observed. Here, the ship represents the curse; also, this cursed ship kills Augustus. They expect an incredible adventure and trade, but things do not go the way they want. It can be regarded that the cursed in their soul come out on the Grampus and causes Augustus's death. As noted, the author generates a great terror by using the curse that is the backbone of gothic literature. 

Rebels and Natives

Rebels are the most brutal and murderous team in the world. They kill many people on the ship. There are two leaders in this group; one is the second captain of the vessel, and the other one is the ship's cook, namely Seymour. Pym describes him as;" the perfect demon" (p.53). Chaos is an indisputable fact of the world. These two leaders, who start a rebellion together, try to defeat each other after the rebellion. Thanks to this group, humanity's worst side come to light again, in other words, ' ambition to win.' The ambition and a disagreement between the captain and the rebels help to appear many gothic elements in the novella. Arthur Gordon Pym describes the massacre of the rebels as follows;" Here the cook stood with an axe, striking each victim on the head as he was forced over the side of the vessel by the other mutineers." (p.53). In conventional novels, it is not possible to see the actual cruelty of humanity; however, these kinds of events are among the essential elements of gothic literature because dark literature tries to show the real but dark face of humankind. As proof of this thesis, the native people in the novella can be demonstrated. They live on a desert island, and they are far from civilization. While they are expected to be purer, they take the life of all the crewmembers. No matter wherever men are, man has a dark side all the time. The novella shows the situation in all its nakedness and dreadfulness.

It is an undeniable fact that the evil and terrible side of humanity, gothic elements, and Edgar Allan Poe's principles that are rendered through the characters are extremely crucial. Yet, it is not the one and only feature of gothic works. As pointed out in the theory part of the paper, the setting is vital to Edgar Allan Poe and gothic fiction since Poe wants to isolate the reader from the real world and The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket has a lot of places to support this opinion.

REFERENCES

Poe, E.A (2021).The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Platanus Publishing