- The narrator describes himself as someone who lacks creativity and imagination, but when he comes aboard the other ship, he changes, and is even ashamed of his "former apprehensions" (198). What is Poe trying to say about living a life based in reality vs. grounded in imagination? (which seems to be the way the crew lives)
- What do we make of the crew? They do not see/notice the narrator when he comes onto the ship. Also, they are described as being old, and use strange and outdated tools (196). The crew seems to be wandering around in their own world and driven by their imagination and hope for new discoveries.
- At the end of the story, the narrator sees "the blackness of eternal night, and a chaos of foamless water..." (199), but he is able to look past that and see the prospect of new discovery. He is excited by the fact that they are headed to something new, even though it will lead to their "destruction" (198). While he is still able to recognize what is going on around him, his imagination overshadows his realistic thoughts.
- What is Poe trying to say with the ending? It would seem that Poe likes the idea of imagination and discovery (and isn't a big fan of science), but it doesn't seem to turn out so well for the narrator (or the crew). Or, maybe there is something to be said about the narrator's story being bottled up, and available for others to read.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
MS. Found in a Bottle
Here are a few questions/thoughts I have about MS Found in a Bottle
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5 comments:
When the narrator boards the other ship the main characteristic of the crew that is noticed is the old age that they portray. I believe that the ashamed feelings of his “former apprehensions” are sparked very abruptly and to an intense state because of the crew’s expressions of hope. The narrator is obviously younger than the crew. This can be known because of the interest that is directed toward their old age. The text states, “…the thrilling evidence of old age, so utter, so extreme, which excites within my spirit a sense—a sentiment ineffable” (197). The feelings of shame arise from the narrator’s insight into the feelings of the elderly crew toward death. Through this story I believe that Poe is expressing that imagination is more gratifying and more importantly, everlasting. At the conclusion of the story, the reality is that the ship will crash/sink and the crew along with the narrator will die. On the other hand, the message that is slipped into the bottle by the narrator will survive, leaving these past experiences to live for time to come. As the narrator states before the ship goes down, “To conceive the horror of my sensations is, I presume, utterly impossible; yet a curiosity to penetrate the mysteries of these awful regions, predominates even over my despair…” (198) After reading this piece I know that Poe is obviously imaginative of the unknown and favors these thoughts over a realistic view. He works with many aspects of the imagination including growing old and all that accompanies the process, a reader’s perspective concerning the reading of a piece of literature, and of course, death.
Seems as though there's an interesting tension operating in how the narrator views what he sees as the ship's inevitable destruction. The line I found interesting was:
"It is evident that we are hurrying onwards to some exciting knowledge--some never-to-be-imparted secret, whose attainment is destruction.
It almost seems as though the attraction is not the knowledge, but the fact that it cannot be communicated. Seems as though there's a link here with Laura's reminder of the tale's origin as a note in a bottle. Is the story, perhaps, positioned as a never-to-be-imparted secret?
Note to additional commenters: Use shorter paragraphs (just hit return more often) for online writing.
It is important to note that they will not see him, not cannot (pg 195). In the argument for reality vs. imagination it seems as if the older people are blinded. They escape reality and see only what they want to see. They continuously sail South, jumping waves and breaking ice, for what? The ship is an older one, it shouldn’t even be in water at all, let alone thousands of miles from any land. I don’t believe we get a mention of any cargo. My only thought on why it is sailing in the first place is that it is meant for discovery, which the narrator painted on the sail thoughtlessly, letting his imagination do the painting.
With the use of out-dated maps and tools I couldn’t help but think of the battle between older and younger artists, two different schools of thought. One that is outdated and represented by the older crew members. The narrator is of the new school which since coming onto the ship blends his belief in reality with the belief in imagination. The problem is that the outdated people still have control of the ship. They choose to ignore those who are different and die in the end, bringing everyone around them down too. But they do it without even realizing it. “there is upon their countenances an expression more of the eagerness of hope than of the apathy of despair (pg 199).” They aren’t able to see their imminent fate.
I am probably completely wrong, I just wanted to throw this out there. To me this story could be a depiction of Poe’s feelings towards the older class of writers who might hinder his work in some way. I don’t remember any specific problems he had with the older generation. It just seems like an story representing peoples belief that just because someone is older they are right when they could have no idea. I hope this made sense in some way. lol.
Laura,
You ask some very interesting questions- I'll try to give my take on them:
· The narrator describes himself as someone who lacks creativity and imagination, but when he comes aboard the other ship, he changes, and is even ashamed of his "former apprehensions" (198). What is Poe trying to say about living a life based in reality vs. grounded in imagination? (which seems to be the way the crew lives)
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I think in this case the narrator is none other than Poe him self. The opening line when he talks about being estranged from both his country and his family- seems to be based on his own life and struggles for identity. So I guess to Poe the old guys on the big ship was society and the old guard who refused to see Poe’s talent or give any credit to his imagination.
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· What do we make of the crew? They do not see/notice the narrator when he comes onto the ship. Also, they are described as being old, and use strange and outdated tools (196). The crew seems to be wandering around in their own world and driven by their imagination and hope for new discoveries.
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The crew: Poe shows his respect for the crew and the Captain in his descriptions. Naming the ship Discovery was smart. It threw me off. – When he is first on the ship I thought it was a ghost ship- then later I came to the conclusion that the narrator was a ghost,- now I think that both the crew and Poe were ghosts – separated in death by their refusal to acknowledge one another.
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· At the end of the story, the narrator sees "the blackness of eternal night, and a chaos of foamless water..." (199), but he is able to look past that and see the prospect of new discovery. He is excited by the fact that they are headed to something new, even though it will lead to their "destruction" (198). While he is still able to recognize what is going on around him, his imagination overshadows his realistic thoughts.
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What you say is true, and again, I think Poe is talking about his own life and he’s saying that in spite of the fact that he has tried to obscure the reality of his own life- that to the public- hmm- perhaps the crew is the public- that he has come to far to do anything else that trust in his imagination.
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· What is Poe trying to say with the ending? It would seem that Poe likes the idea of imagination and discovery (and isn't a big fan of science), but it doesn't seem to turn out so well for the narrator (or the crew). Or, maybe there is something to be said about the narrator's story being bottled up, and available for others to read.
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The end didn’t surprise me, but I wish that it ended differently. I felt sad that all perished. There was really no clear cut answer to the large questions he was asking in the story. However I did see this as almost a premonition of his own “foggy” demise- his death away from public eyes- that left us all with more questions than a clear cut opinion on who the private Poe really was.
• I agree in a sense with Kevin. I see the crew as a part of the masses that see what they want to see. Poe refers to writings that are read and enjoyed simply because someone else has said that it should be is evident in this tale. Poe deals with a crew of selective sight. They choose not to see the narrator who is among them. The narrator writes “Discovery” on the sail and it has to be up, because he can read it. Yet none of the crew reacts to this. It is not the focus of their attention. They see only what they deem necessary to see.
• The outdated tools and the age of the crew as well as the age of the ship seemed to be Poe poking fun at the other writers of his time. Here Poe is creating this genre and the authors of convention won’t see it. MS in a bottle causes me to want to learn more about Poe and his critiques and the why of it. I wonder why he chose an old crew and ship, why they refused to see him and yet they were excited to race on to this new discovery that was their end.
• The story seems to point to the fact the crew is excited to find this discovery, yet they lose “sight” of what is in front of them. Is Poe showing that the older generation feels that it is better to race towards a goal and face danger without noticing the discoveries than to achieve them?
• This story leads the reader to many different “discoveries” as well as many questions. Is Poe telling us that the older, popular writers of his time would rather die in the attempt to “see or discover” something new rather than see the new that is before them? Is the new before them, the narrator, less valuable because they didn’t discover it and it was placed before them?
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