Edgar Allan Poe S The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

¶ … befriending natives is a key aspect in Edgar Allan Poe's novel "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket." Consequent to experiencing a series of stressful episodes, the central character, Arthur Gordon Pym, develops interest in exploring new territories and in learning more about the world. His interaction with natives on the island of Tsalal further contributes to showing the writer's tendency to relate to ideas that are somewhat connected to the concept of exploration. At the same time, this emphasizes the traditional interaction between explorers and natives on new lands -- a relationship based on profit and likely to have a violent aftermath.

While the novel covers a series of other topics previous to discussing with regard to whiteness and blackness, this particular topic seems to be much more dramatic in comparison to the others. Pym experienced significant distress as he almost died on several occasions, saw people being killed and even ate one of his fellow seamen when there was no other solution left. However, the novel maintains a rather optimist nature up to the point where Pym comes across natives on Tsalal.

Poe makes sure to highlight the differences between explorers and natives from the very first moment when they interact. "At every step we took inland the conviction forced itself upon us that we were in a country differing essentially from any hitherto visited by civilized men." (Poe 116) This idea contributed to differentiating between Pym's previous experiences and his presence on the island -- everything seems new to the protagonist, to the point where he appears to think of himself as completely foreign to the land. The water itself reminds Pym of the difference between colors, considering that it has several veins that separate colors from one-another. "Upon passing the blade of a knife athwart the veins, the water closed over it immediately, as with us, and also, in withdrawing it, all traces of the passage of the knife were instantly obliterated. If, however, the blade was passed down accurately between the two veins, a perfect separation was effected, which the power of cohesion did not immediately rectify." (Poe 117) This further reinforces the fact that Poe was determined to provide readers with the obvious differences between colors. The writer likely intended to use it as a reference concerning the difference between white individuals and dark-skinned individuals. Many people in 19th century America had an aversion concerning white-black relations and were determined to do everything in their power in order to prevent these two races from mixing. The Tsalal state is thus similar to a segregated 19th century America, taking into account stressful conditions in the territory during the era.

Pym's presence on the seas seemed uncertain and it would be difficult and almost impossible for readers to associate his potential death at sea with a particular reason other than his decision-making. In contrast, his presence on Tsalal presents a clear antagonist: everything there is different from the world that Pym is accustomed to seeing. The island is dominated by the color black and by color differences in general to the degree to which it puts across dark cultural values. The protagonist describes locals as being "jet black, with thick and long woolly hair. They were clothed in skins of an unknown black animal, shaggy and silky, and made to fit the body with some degree of skill, the hair being inside, except where turned out about the neck, wrists, and ankles." (Poe 113) Poe presents natives as having a special relationship with the color black, with tools, animals, clothes, and weapons all being entirely black. The presence of white individuals in the region actually emphasizes the fact that white people are somewhat intrusive on the island.

Differences between cultural values are present throughout the last part of the book, from chapter XXI when Pym's boat arrives on the island to the very last pages of the text. The fact that Captain Guy waves a white handkerchief at the time when he observes locals present on the island makes it possible for readers to understand the natives' aversion toward the color white. The text also uses this idea with the purpose to display cultural differences between newcomers and natives. Pym's companions were accustomed to looking at the color white as an idea signaling peace while natives were only able to observe the fact that it was different from everything that they were used to. It is, however, difficult to determine whether or not natives were hostile toward the color white or white people in particular, considering that Pym's crew is unable to interpret their language.

Many readers are likely to acknowledge the fact that Poe intends to address differences between white people and black people earlier in the book, even before Pym comes across Tsalal. The leader of the mutiny on the Grampus is a black cook and Peters' himself is of native-American ancestry. Relating to Peters, Poe says "his head was equally deformed, being of immense size, with an indentation on the crown (like that on the head of most negroes), and entirely bald." (Poe 32) Pym notices all of these elements and seems to be initially hesitant about befriending Peters. Throughout the book Poe presents readers with ideas related to race differences and uses them in order to show the way that cultural identities shape people's thinking to the point where they are inclined to express hatred toward concepts that they are not used to seeing.

It is likely that Poe's text generated much controversy when it first came out, as numerous people at the time were hesitant about acknowledging the fact that slavery was wrong or that it was not always justified to differentiate people based on their skin color. Poe brought Peters forward as a character who was not as cruel as his image might have suggested and showed how other white characters in the book were not as noble as their skin color might have influenced some to believe they were.

One would perceive Tsalal natives as being cruel and even savage. However, it is difficult for readers to ignore the fact that Pym himself has performed a great deal of actions that could be categorized as savage. The need to survive pushed him to go as far as to resort to cannibalism. In a way natives on Tsalal observe the fact that they are very different from Pym and his companions and decide that it would be in their best interest to kill everyone who is different. To a certain degree their condition can be likened to Pym's situation at the time when he ate Parker -- they were aware that newcomers could bring a great deal of suffering or even to eradicate them completely and decided that they had to murder them. It seems that natives instinctively avoid anything relating to the color white, as they appear to have a complex understanding of the way that the presence of white people on their island could harm them.