# Chapter XII explained — The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

> Chapter companion for The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe.

## What happens

Pym and his companions, driven by starvation, draw lots to determine who will be killed and eaten. Parker draws the short straw and is stabbed by Peters. They survive on his remains for four days. Pym then recalls an axe stored in the forecastle, which they use to cut through the deck to the storeroom, retrieving olives, ham, wine, and a Galápago tortoise.

## Themes in this chapter

### Survival and Moral Decay

The characters resort to cannibalism and murder to survive, highlighting the erosion of moral boundaries under extreme duress.

### Deception and Unreliable Narration

Pym's account of the lottery and his internal thoughts reveal a self-serving perspective, questioning the reliability of his narration.

## Character check-ins

### Arthur Gordon Pym

Narrator; orchestrates the drawing of lots and later retrieves the axe from the forecastle.

### Dirk Peters

Draws first and is free; stabs Parker in the back; helps cut through the deck.

### Augustus Barnard

Draws second and is free; wounded arm prevents him from aiding in cutting the deck.

### Richard Parker

Draws the short straw and is killed and eaten by the others.

## Key lines

> I now told them I was willing to submit to the proposal, merely requesting a delay of about one hour, in order that the fog which had gathered around us might have an opportunity of lifting, when it was possible that the ship we had seen might be again in sight.

Pym agrees to the drawing of lots but asks for a one-hour delay, hoping the fog will lift and reveal a ship.

_Pym's attempt to postpone the inevitable lottery._

> At this moment all the fierceness of the tiger possessed my bosom, and I felt toward my poor fellow-creature, Parker, the most intense, the most diabolical hatred.

Pym experiences a surge of murderous rage toward Parker when the odds become even.

_Pym's raw emotional response to the life-or-death stakes._

> He made no resistance whatever, and was stabbed in the back by Peters, when he fell instantly dead.

Parker offers no struggle as Peters stabs him in the back, killing him immediately.

_The swift and brutal execution of the lottery's outcome._

> I remembered that, when the foremast had been cut away, Peters, being in the windward chains, passed one of the axes into my hand, requesting me to put it, if possible, in a place of security, and that a few minutes before the last heavy sea struck the brig and filled her I had taken this axe into the forecastle and laid it in one of the larboard berths.

Pym recalls that he stored an axe in a forecastle berth, which they can use to cut through the deck to reach provisions.

_A crucial memory that offers a chance at survival._

## Links

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