Trivia / The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

• Life Imitates Art: In the novel, the four survivors of a shipwreck realize they don't have enough food to survive. The Cabin Boy Richard Parker suggests they draw straws on which of them will agree to cannibalize, and ironically draws the short straw. In 1884, the yacht Mignonette sank, with four men cast adrift. After weeks without food, they decided that one of them should be sacrificed as food for the other three, just as in Poe's novel. The loser was a young cabin boy named Richard Parker.
• Referenced by...: Season 4 of True Detective involves a team of scientists at the Tsalal Arctic Research Station who have gone missing.