Poe's Foreshadowing in AGP

In the beginning of this novel, Pym’s narrative can be seen as reflective of the Middle Passage, as we discussed in class. In the chapters we just read, the story has only escalated in eccentricity and an overall sense of ‘what did I just read?’.  Throughout his work, Poe seems to be foreshadowing an even crazier conclusion, through the fates of the characters and the many sights they encounter.

One specific instance I consider foreshadowing occurs on page 100, when Pym, Augustus, Peters, and Parker pass the ghostly ship with the smiling captain. At first sight, the men jump with joy, thinking that they have finally been rescued and found companions. At closer look however, they realize that the smiling captain is actually a decomposing corpse, accompanied by 20-30 other dead bodies. Although the sight is ghastly, the men continue to beg them for help, which shows their desperation and despair. “We were raving with horror and despair- thoroughly mad through the anguish of our grievous disappointment” (101). Although the horror of the sight was traumatizing for the men, the true horror was in the disappointment: they got their hopes up, and these hopes quite dramatically were destroyed.

This event represents the characters’ fates throughout the rest of the novel. For instance, the characters began their journey searching for adventure and fulfillment, and in no way did they expect horrors such as death, starvation, and mutiny. When they actually are on the trip, however, the true extent of its terror is revealed, and after reading this scene, the reader is left with questions concerning if the same thing will happen to Pym. Poe has left us with several mysteries: what happened to the sailors on that ship? What will happen to Pym without Augustus and Parker?'