The story opens with the words “MS. Edgar Allan Poe’s “Find in a Bottle” story opens with the words, “MS.” It basically means that a man in his final days of life or dying will not hide anything. The man cannot lie, regardless if the truth is disclosed voluntarily or involuntarily. This quote can be taken in the context of Poe’s tale. It is not necessary to lie if a man perceives himself to be close to death. Sometimes, it could feel like a call to help. This opening, outside of psychoanalytic lenses, serves as a prelude for the narrator’s death and proves that he is reliable. Smith 304. Psychoanalytic critic “attempts…to…provide psychological studies of an individual write” (Smith 344). An author’s story can be analyzed psychoanalytically to reveal many things about his or her mind. Smith 305 states that authors reveal their inner selves, whether they are repressed or instinctive. Writing can bring out deep inner emotions. The main emotions felt by the narrator throughout the story are fear, anger, sadness, and loneliness. The story “MS.” is viewed through a psychoanalytic perspective. Through a psychoanalytic lens, the story “MS. In the story, he writes about himself and his subconscious feelings, including fear, frustration, loneliness, and fear.
Poe’s survival of a terrifying experience is the first indication that the story really is about that. The shipwreck is terrifying and the narrator survived it. The Swede is the only person who shares his experience. “We soon found out that we were only survivors of this accident” (Poe 2). They were together “for five full days and night” (Poe 2). The Swede, the only other person to have experienced that terror, was the only one. He could understand the feelings of the narrator. The Swede is killed, leaving the narrator in the aftermath. He is the only survivor from the wreck. He doesn’t think he will survive. He actually is ready for death. The trauma does not kill him but alters his perspective on the world. He immediately enters a foreign environment. “A ghastly ship that inspired [them] to horror and astonishment”. (Poe 5. Moving forward is a frightening and unfathomable idea. There are triggers and reminders all over the second ship. His anxiety can be overwhelming. Poe describes the narrator’s fearful state throughout the story. He then experiences a psychotic breakdown that causes him to return to the traumatizing shipwreck. He is very conscious of the discomfort that the narration’s narrator has throughout the story. As the story progresses, his stress levels rise and become a constant terror. He was afraid of what seemed to be foreshadowing the destruction. His anticipation was confirmed by the ship’s destruction shortly after. This validates his anxiety and drives him to panic more on the second vessel. He starts to recall the moments prior to the first shipwreck and recreate the feeling of anticipation. Poe 8’s mention that “the wind is still on the poop” is very similar to Poe 2’s earlier reference of “the flame of an candle burning upon the poop with no perceptible motion”. When he’s triggered, he starts to think the exact same thoughts. He panics. He describes the fearful feeling of the waves: “The enormous waters rear their heads overhead like demons. But like demons confined by simple threats.” (Poe 8). Although these crashing waves look terrifying through the eyes and thoughts of the narrator they are actually waves that don’t reach deck. He sees the waves as a threat to his life, but they are not. Even tiny things can trigger memories of the past. He is surprised by the ship’s “enormous mass” that it isn’t swallowed at once and for ever (Poe 7). With all the threats he is constantly facing, survival seems almost miraculous.
He doesn’t perceive these dangers. “It is difficult for me to keep my feet on the ground, but I feel that the crew experiences very little discomfort.” (Poe 7, 7). He also points out the “whirlpools” at the beginning as well as the end. All of these details show the reader the dangers that the narrator perceives for his safety. His mind is brought back to the original trauma by the existence of imagined dangers that surround him. There are striking similarities in the end and start of Poe’s story. This is evidence that he has experienced the cyclic nature memory-induced fear. The second whirlpool, shipwreck and nightmare he wrote were a result of his mental trauma and emotional triggers.
Poe’s loneliness is probably the most important aspect of his story. The story begins with the narrator feeling disconnected from his family (Poe 1). He feels completely alone in this world. Although he is writing it in narrative form, he feels like he is feeling alone after the wreck. The shipwreck was a terrible event that caused Poe to feel uneasy. Poe writes about his feelings of loneliness and other emotions he has felt. After the tragedy, Poe’s mind is doing new things. He is certain that no matter how long he has, he won’t be able to identify the feeling. This reveals a sense of helplessness and hopelessness.
In addition to feeling lonely, the narrator is also completely disconnected from his environment. This is particularly evident when he interacts with the crew of his second ship. This ship represents the life of someone who has been through a terrible affair. He is surrounded and influenced by his crew, whom he considers to be ghostly untouchables. He is unable to relate to his surroundings. They are far from him and difficult to reach. He feels completely ignored. Although he survived something terrible, he doesn’t know anyone who can talk to him about his feelings or how he was affected. He feels like he doesn’t belong on the same plane that his family and friends. After the shipwreck, he sees them as outsiders. This is similar to his writings about not having much regard for his country or family. He is isolated from the rest of society and cannot connect with them.
Edgar Allan Poe subconsciously creates stories about men who survive shipwrecks. The story’s beginning is about a shipwreck that Edgar Allan Poe suffered from. After surviving this, the narrator finds himself in a new setting with many triggers and people that he doesn’t understand. The narrator sees threats that don’t exist. He is not aware of these threats. His family and friends see them differently. The narrator feels alone and hides from the world. The ocean and other objects that remind him of his feelings of doom can cause him to feel utter terror. He fears that it will swallow him whole. This could also mean that he is overwhelmed by panic, stress, and the possibility of death. A psychotic break is when he feels overwhelmed by triggers and has no one to understand him or provide safety. Poe wrote from his deep subconscious mind about feelings like loneliness, fear, isolation and he didn’t realize he was writing a story about himself and his experiences. The story “MS Found in a Bottle” can be read as a ghost-story with a ghost boat and crew outside of a psychological lens. But, the lens can still be used to interpret it. Psychoanalytic criticism helps to tie the work closer to its author. This allows the reader see the narrator both as a victim of trauma and as someone suffering from mental illness.
