# Richard Parker — The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket character guide

> Richard Parker in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Parker

**First appearance:** 0005-iv

## Snapshot

A mutineer with a level head and a hollow conscience, whose pragmatism turns the Grampus's survivors into something less than men.

## Who they are

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 becomes the one who proposes the unthinkable with calm arithmetic, and his willingness to reason his way past every taboo is the story's coldest mirror. He matters because he shows what the sea does to ordinary men when the rules run out.

## Relationships

### [Dirk Peters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/dirk_peters)

_rivalry_

Dirk Peters and Richard Parker are antagonistic crew members, with Parker ultimately becoming a victim of cannibalism.

### [Augustus Barnard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/augustus_barnard)

_rivalry_

Augustus and Richard Parker are at odds during the mutiny and subsequent survival ordeal, leading to conflict.

## In the story

### [The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/the-narrative-of-arthur-gordon-pym-of-nantucket)

A sailor who is killed and cannibalized during the survival crisis.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/iv)

Parker is one of the four prisoners set adrift in the boat after the mutiny.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/v)

Mentioned as one of the mutineers, though not directly appearing in this chapter.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/vi)

Listed among the mate's party during the journal entries.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/vii)

Mentioned as part of the crew; not directly active in this chapter.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/viii)

Spared after being knocked down; later set free to help at the pumps.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/ix)

Alive and able to speak; asks Pym to release him, encouraging the others to take courage.

### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/x)

Weeps like a child upon seeing the vessel; later the grisly morsel falls at his feet.

### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/xi)

Slightly more coherent than the others; initially mistakes a cloud for land and later volunteers to dive, though unsuccessfully.

### [Chapter XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/xii)

Draws the short straw and is killed and eaten by the others.

### [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/xxiv)

Mentioned as having been killed earlier; his death is part of the context of the survivors' desperation.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/richard_parker
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters