# XXIV 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 Peters, starving and desperate, attempt a harrowing descent down a soapstone cliff using improvised pegs and handkerchief ropes. Pym nearly falls due to a vertiginous longing for the abyss, but Peters saves him. After reaching the bottom, they are ambushed by five savages; Peters is clubbed, and Pym fires pistols, killing two.

## Themes in this chapter

### Survival and Moral Decay

The extreme measures taken to descend the cliff and the subsequent violent encounter with the savages highlight the primal struggle for survival.

### The Sublime and Antipodal World

Pym's vertiginous experience on the cliff and the desolate, ruined landscape evoke the sublime terror of the antipodal world.

### Liminality and Transformation

Pym's near-death experience and rescue mark a threshold moment, after which he feels 'a new being'.

## Character check-ins

### Arthur Gordon Pym

Nearly succumbs to a vertiginous desire to fall during the cliff descent; rescued by Peters; later fires pistols at attacking savages.

### Dirk Peters

Ingeniously engineers the descent by cutting holes and driving pegs; saves Pym from falling; later clubbed by savages in an ambush.

### Richard Parker

Mentioned as having been killed earlier; his death is part of the context of the survivors' desperation.

## Key lines

> The more earnestly I struggled not to think , the more intensely vivid became my conceptions, and the more horribly distinct.

The harder I tried to suppress my thoughts, the more vivid and terrifying they became.

_Pym describes the psychological torment of vertigo and the paradox of trying to avoid fearful thoughts._

> I let go at once my grasp upon the peg, and, turning half round from the precipice, remained tottering for an instant against its naked face.

I released my hold on the peg and turned halfway, teetering on the edge of the cliff.

_Pym nearly yields to the compulsion to fall, a classic symptom of acrophobia._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/xxiv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters