A Descent Into The Maelström: One Can’t Win Against Nature

Mumu dives into the perfect storm that is Poe’s A Descent Into The Maelström

TITLE: “A Descent Into The Maelström” (pp 227-249  from Great Tales And Poems Of Edgar Allan Poe)

AUTHOR: Edgar Allan Poe

GENRE: Dark Fiction

PAGES: 22

FORMAT: Paperback Book

PRICE: US $5.95 / CAN $6.99

A Descent Into The Maelström is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories that caught me by surprise. The way the story is told through the guide, and how nonchalant he was about his brothers’ demise, struck a chord with me. I mean, sure, he suffered just as much; it was his quick thinking that saved him in the end, but the way his brothers are described and the way they died by holding onto their fear, while the guide thinks through the Maelström about the best way to survive, shows that reason and logic over fear will save someone from natural disasters. However, even the guide knows that forces of nature cannot be stopped.

To begin with, the narrator followed the guide, who was showing him around the area, where they paused on a little cliff, although the narrator did state that this cliff was steep, not as little as the guide said. Then, they watched the Maelström, or what the guide calls “Moskoe-ström”, while he recounts his encounter with the Maelström and his brothers. Now what may be a shock is that Maelströms are real-life massive whirlpools that can damage ships. In fact, Poe based this one off of the Maelström named Moskstraumen in Norway.

The one part of this story that gets to me is the fact that the guide doesn’t bother naming his brothers; he just called them his younger brother and his older brother. Both, of course, perished during the Maelström, but it was due to misfortune. The Maelström happens at a certain time every day, around 8 pm. They made sure to get back on the safe path before then. This time, their clock had run out of batteries and they had no idea it was 8 pm at all; it stopped working at 7 pm. Nothing scarier than a timed event coming to fruition without the knowledge of the time.

At this point, his younger brother tied himself to the mast of the boat; he got blown off during the hurricane in addition to the Maelström. Then, the Maelström swallowed the boat; the guide stated it felt like they were magically hung sideways in the swirling ebony vortex of water. His older brother, whom he thought was thrown overboard, appeared and yanked the position of the ring on the deck of the boat from the guide, causing the guide to land in the water. Using his quick thinking after observing some broken wood from other vessels and intact boxes and barrels, he realized how he could escape the Maelström. He tried to warn his brother, fight him even, to understand to tie himself to an empty or light barrel for it to rise to the top, or sink slower, but his older brother refused, going down with the ship. The guide decided to leave him behind, to save himself instead of the Maelström drowning them both. It worked, thankfully; the guide’s hair turned completely white from stress. Yet no one believed his tale, as he recounts to the narrator they were similar in age. He hoped that the narrator would believe in the story he told.

In truth, the morale of this story is: One cannot win against Nature; it will always win. Maelströms are a natural, dangerous event of a whirlpool being powered by opposing pulls of the tides. It was thanks to the guide’s quick thinking that saved his life from the Maelström in this story. However, one cannot fight Nature; the Maelströms are still happening around the world today, regardless of whether we want them to or not. Nature always will win.

Mumu the Tricked loves to read and write. It’s easier to sit still and work with their eyes and hands than move around some days. They are hoping to become a successful author and book reviews are quite fun, too. Thank you!

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