The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket · Chapter
XVI explained
Captain Guy abandons his original plan to explore the Auroras and the Strait of Magellan after receiving information at Tristan d'Acunha, instead steering southward in search of reported islands near the 60th parallel.
What happens
Captain Guy abandons his original plan to explore the Auroras and the Strait of Magellan after receiving information at Tristan d'Acunha, instead steering southward in search of reported islands near the 60th parallel. When no islands are found, the crew resolves to push toward the pole. Pym provides a detailed historical account of previous Antarctic expeditions—including those of Captain Cook, Kreutzenstern, Weddell, Morrell, and Briscoe—highlighting the limits of polar exploration and the unresolved question of a southern continent. The chapter ends with Pym expressing intense interest in Captain Guy's bold decision to continue southward.
Themes in this chapter
The Sublime and Antipodal World
The chapter surveys the sublime, unknown polar regions, emphasizing the vast, icy landscapes and the allure of the unexplored southern pole.
The Unknown and Cosmic Horror
The historical accounts of failed expeditions and the impenetrable ice fields evoke a sense of the overwhelming, unknowable forces of nature at the edge of the world.
Survival and Moral Decay
The discussion of previous explorers' struggles against ice, cold, and limited resources highlights the harsh realities and moral compromises inherent in polar survival.
Characters to notice
- Arthur Gordon Pym
Narrates the chapter, providing a historical survey of Antarctic exploration and expressing intense interest in Captain Guy's decision to push southward.
- Captain Guy
Decides to alter the ship's course southward after information from Tristan d'Acunha, and resolves to push boldly toward the pole.
- Jane Guy
The vessel on which the voyage proceeds; its course is redirected southward for polar exploration.
- Glass
Mentioned as the source of information about islands near the 60th parallel, which the Jane Guy fails to find.
- Captain Cook
His 1772–1773 Antarctic expedition is summarized as the first major attempt to reach the southern pole.
- Captain James Weddell
His 1822 voyage is noted for penetrating farther south than any previous navigator, reaching 74°15' without encountering extraordinary difficulties.
- Captain Benjamin Morrell
His 1823 voyage in the American schooner Wasp is described, including his observations of open sea and mild temperatures at high latitudes.
- Kreutzenstern
Mentioned for his 1803 Russian circumnavigation attempt, which reached only 59°58' south.
Key passages
“It had been Captain Guy’s original intention, after satisfying himself about the Auroras, to proceed through the Strait of Magellan, and up along the western coast of Patagonia; but information received at Tristan d’Acunha induced him to steer to the southward, in the hope of falling in with some small islands said to lie about the parallel of 60° S., longitude 41° 20′ W.”
Captain Guy initially planned to explore the Auroras and then sail through the Strait of Magellan along Patagonia, but news from Tristan d'Acunha made him change course southward, hoping to find small islands near 60° S, 41°20' W.
Sets the chapter's context: a shift in expedition goals toward the Antarctic.
“In 1772 he sailed to the south in the Resolution, accompanied by Lieutenant Furneaux in the Adventure. In December he found himself as far as the fifty-eighth parallel of south latitude, and in longitude 26° 57′ E. Here he met with narrow fields of ice, about eight or ten inches thick, and running northwest and southeast.”
In 1772, Captain Cook sailed south in the Resolution with the Adventure, reaching 58° S in December, where he encountered narrow ice fields eight to ten inches thick.
Summarizes Cook's early encounter with Antarctic ice.
“In 1822, Captain James Weddell, of the British navy, with two very small vessels, penetrated farther to the south than any previous navigator, and this, too, without encountering extraordinary difficulties.”
In 1822, British Captain James Weddell sailed farther south than anyone before him, using two small ships and facing no major obstacles.
Highlights Weddell's remarkable polar achievement.
“Being nearly destitute of fuel and water, and without proper instruments, it being also late in the season, Captain Morrell was now obliged to put back, without attempting any further progress to the westward, although an entirely open sea lay before him.”
Lacking fuel, water, and proper instruments, and with the season growing late, Captain Morrell had to turn back despite seeing an open sea ahead.
Illustrates the practical limitations that thwarted even promising polar advances.
