Perversity in Edgar Allen Poes The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym - Essay Example

Section/# Perversity in Edgar Allen Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym It is without question that Edgar Allen Poe can be considered one of the most gifted American writers of all time. Equally able to paint vivid image, leverage symbolism, and effectively utilize elaborate and flowery language without losing the reader in a level of overt verbosity, Poe stands alone as one of the few writers that were able to effectively illustrate all of these qualities quality same time engaging the reader with an interest in poetry and/or programs. Naturally, Edgar Allen Poe is most famous for his poetry. However, this fact notwithstanding, he nevertheless wrote a novel; entitled The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Rather than understanding this attempt at a novel as a failed attempt, the reader can instead integrate with an understanding of the fact that even though it was not widely successful at the time, it is come to be appreciated and understood in a greater level of depth in the subsequent years after it was written. Moreover, whereas many authors make a distinct jump between prose and poetry, Edgar Allen Poe was able to emphasize the strengths that led his poetry to such a level of expertise all the same time writing in a different format. Ultimately, what is meant by this is the fact that Edgar Allen Poe, already an incredibly gifted poet, was able to utilize the strengths of foreshadowing, hence of the supernatural, powerful and dynamic uses of symbolism, and a litany of other literary tools to affect understanding and meaning within the reader Of the novel in question. As such, and analysis of Edgar Allen Poe’s poetry as compared to the novel in question would necessarily require a dissertation length response. By much the same token, and analysis of all of Poe’s literary tools that are utilized within The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym as compared to the use of literary tools that are leveraged within one particular piece of poetry would also require a response analysis that would far exceed the constraints of a simple research analysis. As such, the following discussion will seek to be entirely concentric upon the means through which Edgar Allen Poe utilizes “perversity” within the text as a means of foreshadowing, effecting an understanding of hubris, and presenting the reader with a level of disquieting discomfort and anxiety with regards to the proceeding events that take place within the novel. Through such an analysis, it is the hope of this author that the reader will gain a more informed understanding with regards to not only the utilization of symbolism and imagery within pose novel, but also the utilization of a particular sensation and feeling that is repeated multiple times throughout the novel in an attempt to disquiet the emotions of the reader and provide a level of foreboding with regards to what will happen during the course of future action. Firstly, before delving directly into analyzing key portions of the text and providing literary proof of the level of “perversity” that exists within their lines, it is necessary to first define perversity as it will be utilized and discussed/understood within this particular analysis. Although current levels of societal understanding necessarily delineate that perversity should have some type of twisted sexual connotation, the fact of the matter is that the dictionary definition and true representation of this word has is quite different. As with so many words in English language, repetitive use and simplistic understanding has transformed the way in which people use and define words. Regardless of this, perversity can be defined as follows: “a deliberate desire to behave in an unreasonable or unacceptable manner – contrariness. Such a definition of this word lends the reader to understand the fact that the manner through which perversion will be presented analyzed within the course of the novel will not be concentric upon a level of work toward didn’t interpretation of reality. Instead, a more effective understanding and delineation of perversion, as it exists within Edgar out those words, must necessarily be concentric upon the manner through which tacit and innate levels of rebellion exist throughout the novel which ultimately coalesce into a contrary in point of view or action. Naturally, as has been discussed at some depth within the introduction, this contrarian approach to the world is ultimately the vehicle through which Edgar Allen Poe impresses upon the reader the level of symbolic foreboding that pervades the entire work. Rather than delving directly into the story itself, the reader would do well to understand that perversity is illustrated and referenced within the introduction that enter Allen Poe makes to the piece itself. This level of contrariness and lack of desire to discuss the events of the past helps the reader to understand the fact that the author is ultimately hiding something that is so dark, so against the norm, and so otherwise odd that presenting it to a member of society in all honesty would be on palpable. Says Poe of this emotion, “Upon my return to the United States a few months ago, after the extraordinary series of adventure in the South Seas and elsewhere, of which an account is given in the following pages, accident threw me into the society of several gentlemen in Richmond, Va., who felt deep interest in all matters relating to the regions I had visited, and who were constantly urging it upon me, as a duty, to give my narrative to the public. I had several reasons, however, for declining to do so, some of which were of a nature altogether private, and concern no person but myself; others not so much so” (Poe 1). That from the quotation above, the reader can adequately interpret the fact that the information that the author sought to present was so troubling and disquieting, so outside of the norm of typical/standard human behavior, ultimately so perverse, that the compunction to write the story did not in fact exist for many years after it took place. As Edgar Allen Poe had so aptly demonstrated throughout his august career, the ability to foreshadow and provide a level of symbolic interaction between plot, the reader, and the narrator is ultimately one of the hallmark abilities that helped to set this writer apart from so many others. Whereas it is true that the word “perversity” engenders a great many meanings, it must also be understood that a level of deviation from the norm and rebellion is also denoted within its meaning. As such, the relationship that the author has with Augustus is at the very least out of the ordinary and at the very most the antithesis of what society would expect and encourage; especially at the time that Edgar Allen Poe was writing the work itself. Says the author in chapter 1: “Here I became intimate with the son of Mr. Barnard, a sea-captain, who generally sailed in the employ of Lloyd and Vredenburgh -- Mr. Barnard is also very well known in New Bedford, and has many relations, I am certain, in Edgarton. His son was named Augustus, and he was nearly two years older than myself. He had been on a whaling voyage with his father in the John Donaldson, and was always talking to me of his adventures in the South Pacific Ocean. I used frequently to go home with him, and remain all day, and sometimes all night. We occupied the same bed, and he would be sure to keep me awake until almost light, telling me stories of the natives of the Island of Tinian, and other places he had visited in his travels” (Poe 4). What is illustrated within these lines is at the very least a relationship that fell outside of the norms of Edgar Allen Poe’s own time. However, in delineating the quote above as indicative of a level of perversity, the reader should be painfully aware of the fact that this deviation from the norm, this level of contrariness, and the level of rebellion that the relationship exhibited, was alluded to both in terms of the introduction itself, previously discussed and referenced, and the manner through which the proceeding events of the narrative help to underscore the fact that a type of reprisal and punishment by an unseen power is somehow understandable as a result of the level of “perversity” that is evidenced within this friendship. Thus far, the analysis that has been provided has been deeply concentric upon an in-depth analysis of key quotes and possible/tangential meanings that they infer. However, the use and power of perversion within the novel is not only relegated to deep interpretations of texts that can have subliminal levels of meaning extracted from them. A prominent level of perversion that is represented within chapter 2 has to do with the way in which the young man is stowed away on the ship. Firstly, it must be understood that the process of stowing away was in and of itself an act of rebellion and contrariness ultimately, the laws of the sea had strict penalties for individuals who stowed away without alerting the captain or any other official that they intended upon taking passage with a particular vessel. However, the process of stowing away in and of itself is not the only element of rebellion and “perversity” that is exhibited with regards to the following quote in chapter 2. Says the author: “The taper gave out so feeble a ray that it was with the greatest difficulty I could grope my way through the confused mass of lumber among which I now found myself. By degrees, however, my eyes became accustomed to the gloom, and I proceeded with less trouble, holding on to the skirts of my friend's coat. He brought me, at length, after creeping and winding through innumerable narrow passages, to an iron-bound box, such as is used sometimes for packing fine earthenware. It was nearly four feet high, and full six long, but very narrow. Two large empty oil-casks lay on the top of it, and above these, again, a vast quantity of straw matting, piled up as high as the floor of the cabin. In every other direction around was wedged as closely as possible, even up to the ceiling, a complete chaos of almost every species of ship-furniture, together with a heterogeneous medley of crates, hampers, barrels, and bales, so that it seemed a matter no less than miraculous that we had discovered any passage at all to the box. I afterward found that Augustus had purposely arranged the stowage in this hold with a view to affording me a thorough concealment, having had only one assistant in the labour, a man not going out in the brig” (Poe 10). Chapter 13 provides evidence of a further level of “perversity”. Ultimately, due to the fact that the mutiny upon the ship and the subsequent struggles that it taken place had deprived these individuals of necessary resources, to include food, water, and bedsheets (to be used to catch rainwater). As a result of this eventuality, the individuals on board the ship are faced with the incessant pangs of hunger and consider an eventuality that they might otherwise have considered categorically perverse; cannibalism. Says the author: “Having barely escaped this danger, our attention was now directed to the dreadful imminency of another -- that of absolute starvation. Our whole stock of provision had been swept overboard in spite of all our care in securing it; and seeing no longer the remotest possibility of obtaining more, we gave way both of us to despair, weeping aloud like children, and neither of us attempting to offer consolation to the other. Such weakness can scarcely be conceived, and to those who have never been similarly situated will, no doubt, appear unnatural; but it must be remembered that our intellects were so entirely disordered by the long course of privation and terror to which we had been subjected, that we could not justly be considered, at that period, in the light of rational beings. In subsequent perils, nearly as great, if not greater, I bore up with fortitude against all the evils of my situation, and Peters, it will be seen, evinced a stoical philosophy nearly as incredible as his present childlike supineness and imbecility -- the mental condition made the difference” (Poe 29). Although the reference is vague and the sheer horror of it keeps the author from outright saying it, the clear allusion to the fact that man would be forced to feed upon fellow man is starkly provided as further proof of “perversity” that exists within the text. Ultimately, the perversion that has thus far been alluded to is useful in helping to set the tone of the entire book. Rather than presenting the reader with an understanding of the fact that the hardships and horrors of this particular voyage were able to bring about renewed levels of honor, greatness, honesty, and manliness within the individuals in question, Poe instead points the fact that an underlying level of horror is manifested as subsequent steps against mainstream morality and ethics are engaged. In short, rather than understanding perversity, within the text, as somehow grotesque, the reader would do better to understand the fact that perversity in almost all of its different states can effectively be understood synonymously with rebellion and contrariness. Ultimately, it is the view of this particular reviewer that the underlying rationale for presenting the work in such a way was to heighten the sense of reprisal and an understanding of the fact that such actions must necessarily bear consequence of the hardships that the individuals endured. Work Cited Poe, Edgar A., Harold L. Beaver, and Jules Verne. The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Fairfield, IA: 1st World Library, 2004. Print. Read More