MS. Found In A Bottle
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"MS. Found in a Bottle" is an 1833
short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
by American writer
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
. The plot follows an unnamed narrator at sea who finds himself in a series of harrowing circumstances. As he nears his own disastrous death while his ship drives ever southward, he writes an "MS.", or manuscript, telling of his adventures which he casts into the sea. Some critics believe the story was meant as a
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
of typical sea tales. Poe submitted "MS. Found in a Bottle" as one of many entries to a writing contest offered by the weekly '' Baltimore Saturday Visiter''. Each of the stories was well liked by the judges but they unanimously chose "MS. Found in a Bottle" as the contest's winner, earning Poe a $50 prize. The story was then published in the October 19, 1833, issue of the ''Visiter''.


Plot summary

An unnamed narrator, estranged from his family and country, sets sail as a passenger aboard a cargo ship from Batavia (now known as Jakarta,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
). Some days into the voyage, the ship is first becalmed, then hit by a
simoom Simoom ( ''samūm''; from the root ''s-m-m'', "to poison") is a strong, hot, dry, dust-laden wind. The word is generally used to describe a local wind that blows in the Sahara, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and the deserts of Arabian Peninsula. Its t ...
(a combination of a sand storm and hurricane) that capsizes the ship and sends everyone except the narrator and an old Swede overboard. Driven southward by the magical simoom towards the
South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...
, the narrator's ship eventually collides with a gigantic black
galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...
, and only the narrator manages to scramble aboard. Once aboard, the narrator finds outdated maps and useless navigational tools throughout the ship, the timbers of which seem somehow to have grown or expanded over time. Also, he finds it to be manned by elderly crewmen who are unable to see him; he obtains writing materials from the captain's cabin to keep a journal (the "
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
" of the title), which he resolves to cast into the sea. This ship too continues to be driven southward, and he notices the crew appears to show signs of hope at the prospect of their destruction as it reaches
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
. The ship enters a clearing in the ice, where it is caught in a vast
whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...
and begins to sink into the sea.


Analysis

"MS. Found in a Bottle" is one of Poe's sea tales (others are " A Descent into the Maelström" and " The Oblong Box"). The story's horror comes from its scientific imaginings and its description of a physical world beyond the limits of human exploration. Biographer Kenneth Silverman wrote that the story is "a sustained crescendo of ever building dread in the face of ever stranger and ever more imminent catastrophe". This prospect of unknown catastrophe both horrifies and stimulates the narrator. Like Poe's narrator in another early work, " Berenice", the narrator in "MS. Found in a Bottle" lives predominantly through his books, or more accurately his manuscripts. The otherworldly ship on which the narrator finds himself may evoke the legendary
ghost ship A ghost ship, also known as a phantom ship, is a ship, vessel with no living crew aboard; it may be a fictional ghostly vessel, such as the ''Flying Dutchman'', or a physical Flotsam, jetsam, lagan and derelict, derelict found adrift with its cre ...
, the ''
Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' () is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the sea forever. The myths and ghost stories are likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dutch East India C ...
''.Carlson (1996) p.119 A number of critics have argued that the story's ending references the
Hollow Earth The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space. Notably suggested by Edmond Halley in the late 17th century, the notion was disproven, first tentatively by Pierre Bougue ...
theories propounded by John Cleves Symmes, Jr. and Jeremiah N. Reynolds. Symmes and Reynolds proposed that the planet's interior was hollow and habitable, and was accessible via openings at the two poles. The idea was considered scientifically plausible during the early 19th century. Poe also incorporated Symmes' theories into his later work ''
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket ''The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket'', written and published in 1838, is the only complete novel by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The novel is set between 1827 and 1828 and relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym, wh ...
'' (1838), his only novel. ''Pym'' bears a number of similarities to "MS. Found in a Bottle", including an abrupt ending set in the Antarctic. However, Poe's story may have been intended to poke fun at the more outlandish claims in Symmes' theory. Indeed, some scholars suggest that "MS. Found in a Bottle" was meant to be a
parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
or
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
of sea stories in general, especially in light of the absurdity of the plot and the fact that the narrator unrealistically keeps a diary through it all.Bittner (1962) p.90 William Bittner, for example, wrote that it was poking fun specifically at Jane Porter's novel ''Sir Edward Seaward's Narrative'' (1831) or ''Symzonia'' (1820) by the pseudonymous "Captain Adam Seaborn", who was possibly John Cleves Symmes. It may be significant that the other tales that Poe wrote during this period, including " Bon-Bon", were meant to be humorous or, as Poe wrote, " burlesques upon criticism generally".


Critical reception

The editors who first published "MS. Found in a Bottle" called it "eminently distinguished by a wild, vigorous and poetical imagination, a rich style, a fertile invention, and varied and curious learning."Sova (2001) p.162 Writer
Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the Eng ...
considered the story "about as fine as anything of that kind can be—so authentic in detail that it might have been told by a sailor of sombre and poetical genius in the invention of the fantastic". Poe scholar Scott Peeples summarizes the importance of "MS. Found in a Bottle" as "the story that launched Poe's career". The story was likely an influence on
Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
and bears a similarity to his novel ''
Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
''. As scholar Jack Scherting noted:


Publication history

In the June 15, 1833, issue of the '' Baltimore Saturday Visiter'', its publishers Charles F. Cloud and William L. Pouder announced prizes of "50 dollars for the best Tale and 25 dollars for the best poem, not exceeding one hundred lines", submitted by October 1, 1833. Poe submitted "MS. Found in a Bottle" along with five others. The judges— John Pendleton Kennedy, James Henry Miller and John H. B. Latrobe—met at the house of Latrobe on October 7 and unanimously selected Poe's tale for the prize. The award was announced in the October 12 issue, and the tale was printed in the following issue on October 19, with the remark: "The following is the Tale to which the Premium of Fifty Dollars has been awarded by the Committee. It will be found highly graphic in its style of Composition." Poe's poetry submission, " The Coliseum", was published a few days later, but did not win the prize. The poetry winner turned out to be the editor of the ''Visiter'', John H. Hewitt, using the pseudonym "Henry Wilton". Poe was outraged and suggested the contest was rigged. Hewitt claimed, decades later in 1885, that he and Poe brawled in the streets because of the contest, though the fight is not verified. Poe believed his own poem was the actual winner, a fact which Latrobe later substantiated. Kennedy was particularly supportive of Poe's fledgling career and gave him work for the ''Visiter'' after the contest.Thomas & Jackson (1987) p.135 He assisted in getting "MS. Found in a Bottle" reprinted in an annual gift book called ''The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present'' in its 1836 issue. Kennedy also urged Poe to collect the stories he submitted to the contest, including "MS. Found in a Bottle", into one edition and contacted publisher Carey & Lea on his behalf. A plan was made to publish the stories as a volume called ''Tales of the Folio Club,'' and the ''Saturday Visiter'' promoted it by issuing a call for subscribers to purchase the book in October 1833 for $1 apiece. The "Folio Club" was intended to be a fictitious literary society based on the Delphian Club that the author called a group of "dunderheads" out to "abolish literature". The idea was similar in some respects to ''
The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...
'' by
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
. At each monthly meeting, a member would present a story. A week after the ''Visiter'' issued its advertisement, however, the newspaper announced that the author had withdrawn the pieces with the expectation they would be printed in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. Publishers Harper and Brothers were offered the collection but rejected it, saying that readers wanted long narratives and novels, inspiring Poe to write ''
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket ''The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket'', written and published in 1838, is the only complete novel by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The novel is set between 1827 and 1828 and relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym, wh ...
'', another sea tale.Peeples (1998) p.56 After its first publication, "MS. Found in a Bottle" was almost immediately pirated by the ''People's Advocate'' of
Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes p ...
, which published it without permission on October 26, 1833. In August 1835, Poe took a job as a staff writer and critic for the '' Southern Literary Messenger'' in Richmond, Virginia. That magazine's December 1835 issue carries a copy of "MS. Found in a Bottle" (see picture to the right).


References


Bibliography

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External links

* *
Publication history of "MS. Found in a Bottle"
at th
Edgar Allan Poe Society
* {{Edgar Allan Poe 1833 short stories Short stories by Edgar Allan Poe Antarctica in fiction Works originally published in American magazines Works originally published in literary magazines