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Edgar Allan PoeA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Poe uses the relationship between light and dark throughout the novel to develop the theme of Appearance Versus Reality. While the light/dark dynamic is sometimes used literally, it more frequently carries symbolic weight, representing a struggle between good (life) and evil (death). However, the vagueness of many of Pym’s scenes causes even this fairly straightforward symbolic correspondence to become somewhat confusing, particularly toward the end of the novel.
In the first half of the text, darkness conveys or represents fear in a number of scenes: when Pym is trapped in the hold of the Grampus, for example, he describes the space as “so intensely dark that I could not see my hand, however close I would hold it to my face” (23). Additionally, the terrifying Dutch ship—a veritable embodiment of death—is painted black (68). On both of these occasions, a dark object or location is directly associated with terror or anxiety and amplifies the textual atmosphere of fear. However, from the moment the Jane Guy crosses the Antarctic Circle, light and dark are simultaneously more important and less readable as symbols. The crew stumbles upon mysterious, frightening animal carcasses that are almost entirely white, reversing the association of light with life and, instead, aligning it with death.
By Edgar Allan Poe
A Dream Within a Dream
A Dream Within a Dream
Edgar Allan Poe
Annabel Lee
Annabel Lee
Edgar Allan Poe
Berenice
Berenice
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Hop-Frog
Hop-Frog
Edgar Allan Poe
Ligeia
Ligeia
Edgar Allan Poe
Tamerlane
Tamerlane
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The Black Cat
The Black Cat
Edgar Allan Poe
The Cask of Amontillado
The Cask of Amontillado
Edgar Allan Poe
The Conqueror Worm
The Conqueror Worm
Edgar Allan Poe
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
Edgar Allan Poe
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher
Edgar Allan Poe
The Gold Bug
The Gold Bug
Edgar Allan Poe
The Haunted Palace
The Haunted Palace
Edgar Allan Poe
The Imp of the Perverse
The Imp of the Perverse
Edgar Allan Poe
The Lake
The Lake
Edgar Allan Poe
The Man of the Crowd
The Man of the Crowd
Edgar Allan Poe
The Masque of the Red Death
The Masque of the Red Death
Edgar Allan Poe
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Edgar Allan Poe
The Oval Portrait
The Oval Portrait
Edgar Allan Poe
The Philosophy of Composition
The Philosophy of Composition
Edgar Allan Poe