# The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket — Character guide

> Key figures in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe.

- [Arthur Gordon Pym](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/arthur_gordon_pym.md): Pym grows up comfortable, doted on by a wealthy grandfather, yet his friendship with Augustus Barnard and their reckless nights aboard the Ariel turn idle adventure into genuine obsession. He stows away on the Grampus ex
- [Augustus Barnard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/augustus_barnard.md): Older by two years and already seasoned from a voyage on the John Donaldson, Augustus is the friend who fills Pym's head with the South Pacific and then, half-drunk on a fine night, proposes a frolic in the Ariel. He is 
- [Dirk Peters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/dirk_peters.md): Peters enters the narrative as something closer to a beast than a man—savage in appearance, feared by the crew, capable of appalling violence. What unsettles and compels is the tenderness that surfaces alongside it: he a
- [Tiger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/tiger.md): Tiger is a domestic creature dragged into an inhuman situation, concealed in the Grampus's hold alongside his master and growing desperate as the days of confinement stretch. His presence sharpens Pym's isolation—the one
- [Richard Parker](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/richard_parker.md): Parker first appears among the mutineers who seize the Grampus, a rough sailor whose competence makes him more dangerous than the merely brutal men around him. When the ship is wrecked and the survivors are starving, he 
- [Captain Guy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/captain_guy.md): Captain Guy commands the Jane Guy on its sealing and exploration voyage, a professional seaman whose authority rests on experience rather than charisma. He is prudent where Pym is feverish, and his decision to push south
- [Wilson Allen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/wilson_allen.md): A sailor on the Grampus who joins the mutiny.
- [Too-wit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/too_wit.md): Too-wit rules a lush, taboo-ridden island where the water itself unsettles visitors and every kindness seems rehearsed. His smiling hospitality masks a calculating watchfulness, and his authority over his people makes hi
- [Jane Guy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/jane_guy.md): The sealing ship that carries Pym to the Antarctic.
- [Henderson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/henderson.md): First mate of the Jane Guy who leads a rescue party.
- [Captain Barnard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/captain_barnard.md): Barnard commands the Grampus and, by extension, the trust of Nantucket's merchant families; his son Augustus is Pym's closest friend and co-conspirator. His long absences at sea create the opening the boys exploit, and h
- [Captain Benjamin Morrell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/captain_morrell.md): Historical explorer mentioned in the preface and notes.
- [Jones](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/jones.md): A sailor on the Grampus who participates in the mutiny.
- [Hartman Rogers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/hartman_rogers.md): A mutineer on the Grampus who is killed during the counter-mutiny.
- [Mr. Barnard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/mr_barnard.md): Augustus's father, also referred to as Captain Barnard.
- [Grampus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/grampus.md): The ship on which Pym stows away and later mutinies occur.
- [Ariel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/ariel.md): The small sailboat Pym and Augustus take on their first adventure.
- [Glass](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/glass.md): A sailor on the Jane Guy who is killed by natives on Tsalal.
- [Captain Cook](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/captain_cook.md): Historical explorer referenced in the narrative's Antarctic passages.
- [Captain James Weddell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/captain_james_weddell.md): Historical explorer referenced in the Antarctic sections.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters