# Too-wit — The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket character guide

> Too-wit in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Too - wit

**First appearance:** 0022-xxi

## Snapshot

Chief of the black-skinned islanders on Tsalal, he greets shipwrecked strangers with unnerving courtesy while his people quietly seal every escape route.

## Who they are

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 him the sole gatekeeper between the castaways and the interior. What begins as a rescue curdles into something stranger, and his motives become the axis on which the voyage's final descent turns.

## In the story

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/xviii)

The chief of the islanders, who boards the Jane Guy, shows superstitious fear of mirrors and the ship, and guides the crew to the island.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/xix)

Chief of the Tsalal village; hosts the party in his hut, delivers a harangue, orders a meal of entrails, and agrees to guide them to bêche-de-mer beds.

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

Chief of the Tsalal; leads the party through the gorge and negotiates the bêche-de-mer agreement.

### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/chapters/xxii)

Leader of the Tsalal natives, orchestrating the attack on the Jane Guy.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_narrative_of_arthur_gordon_pym_of_nantucket_se/characters/too_wit
- 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