The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket · Chapter
XIII explained
Pym and Peters endure extreme thirst, starvation, and shark attacks after the brig capsizes, losing their provisions and water supply.
What happens
Pym and Peters endure extreme thirst, starvation, and shark attacks after the brig capsizes, losing their provisions and water supply. They survive on barnacles and wine, but Augustus dies from his injuries and is thrown overboard, attracting more sharks. The chapter details their desperate struggle for survival, including failed attempts to catch rain and the constant threat of the sharks.
Themes in this chapter
Survival and Moral Decay
The characters' struggle for survival leads to despair, irrational behavior, and a focus on basic needs like water and food, overshadowing any moral considerations.
The Unknown and Cosmic Horror
The relentless heat, calm weather, and swarming sharks create an oppressive, almost supernatural atmosphere of dread and helplessness.
Characters to notice
- Arthur Gordon Pym
Narrator and survivor; describes the capsizing, shark attacks, and death of Augustus.
- Dirk Peters
Pym's companion; helps Pym back onto the hull, strikes a shark with an axe, and shows moments of stoicism and despair.
- Augustus Barnard
Dies in convulsions on August 1; his body is thrown overboard and devoured by sharks.
Key passages
“We gave way both of us to despair, weeping aloud like children, and neither of us attempting to offer consolation to the other.”
Both Pym and Peters broke down and cried like children, unable to comfort each other.
Highlights the psychological breakdown caused by extreme deprivation.
“His death filled us with the most gloomy forebodings, and had so great an effect upon our spirits that we sat motionless by the corpse during the whole day, and never addressed each other except in a whisper.”
Augustus's death plunged them into deep despair; they sat silently by his body all day, speaking only in whispers.
Shows the emotional impact of losing a companion in such dire circumstances.