Narrator (M.S. Found in a Bottle) Character Analysis in Poe's Stories

A traveler, voyaging towards exotic islands for purposes of exploration. He is typical of a lot of Poe’s narrators in that he lives a solitary existence, only interacting with his shipmates. But when the seas and skies turn against them, the narrator is well and truly alone, stowed away on a foreign vessel that is so strange and monstrous that its reality seems questionable. On this strange ship, the narrator describes his experiences andtries in vain to communicate – in the end he can make his voice heard only by putting his diary in a bottle and sending it to the elements.

Narrator (M.S. Found in a Bottle) Quotes in Poe's Stories

The Poe's Stories quotes below are all either spoken by Narrator (M.S. Found in a Bottle) or refer to Narrator (M.S. Found in a Bottle). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

A feeling, for which I have no name, has taken possession of my soul – a sensation which will admit of no analysis, to which the lessons of bygone times are inadequate, and for which I fear futurity itself will offer me no key.

Related Characters: (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 16

Explanation and Analysis:

The crew glide to and fro like the ghosts of buried centuries; their eyes have an eager and uneasy meaning; and when their fingers fall athwart my path in the wild glare of the battle-lanterns, I feel as I have never felt before, although I have been all my life a dealer in antiquities, and have imbibed the shadows of Allan columns at Balbec, and Tadmor, and Persepolis, until my very soul has become a ruin.

Related Characters: (speaker)

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 19

Explanation and Analysis:

All in the immediate vicinity of the ship is the blackness of eternal night, and a chaos of foamless water; but, about a league on either side of us, may be seen, indistinctly and at intervals, stupendous ramparts of ice, towering away into the desolate sky, and looking like the walls of the universe.

Related Characters: (speaker)

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 20

Explanation and Analysis:

Narrator (M.S. Found in a Bottle) Character Timeline in Poe's Stories

The timeline below shows where the character Narrator (M.S. Found in a Bottle) appears in Poe's Stories. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

The narrator of "Manuscript" begins by describing his background. He is from a wealthy family and has a good... (full context)

The narrator of "Manuscript" spends many years travelling. One day, he took a trip by boat to the Archipelago... (full context)

The captain and crew are relaxed but the narrator of "Manuscript" is worried that a storm is coming and can’t sleep. He goes out on deck... (full context)

As the water continues to soar and crash above them, the narrator of "Manuscript" and his shipmate spend five days trying to keep the ship away from the brink... (full context)

...of ocean in front of them, balanced there for a second and then comes down. The narrator of "Manuscript" is thrown onto the deck of the ambushing ship. (full context)

For some reason, the narrator of "Manuscript" doesn’t alert the crew on board this new ship and secretly stows himself in the... (full context)

The narrator of "Manuscript" tells us that an inexplicable feeling has taken hold of him. Some time has elapsed.... (full context)

The rest of the tale is written in installments like a diary. The narrator of "Manuscript" describes a recent outing from his dwelling onto the deck where he finds a loose... (full context)

The narrator of "Manuscript" decides to walk among the crew, but again he goes unnoticed. The men are infirm... (full context)

The narrator of "Manuscript" describes his sighting of the ship’s captain, who is similar to him in height and... (full context)

The ship is surrounded by night and now walls of ice. The narrator of "Manuscript" admits he was silly to be afraid of the rough sea previously, as all of... (full context)

...ice around them opens and the ship is being pulled in to the icy current. The narrator of "Manuscript" knows this is it. They are plunging into the whirlpool. He narrates as they go,... (full context)

Everything you needfor every book you read.

Everything you need for every book you read.

Everything you need for every book you read.

Narrator (M.S. Found in a Bottle) Character Analysis

Narrator (M.S. Found in a Bottle) Quotes in Poe's Stories

Narrator (M.S. Found in a Bottle) Character Timeline in Poe's Stories

Everything you need
for every book you read.