Famous novelist predicts cannibalism

The story of cannibalism in the novel by writer Edgar Allan Poe shocked the opinion because the content was a strange way to the accident that occurred decades later.

According to Mysterious Universe, the theme of "traveling back in time" emerged with a series of articles focusing on the life and work of Edgar Allan Poe, the famous American detective novelist. One of Poe's works seems to "predict" events that will take place after decades, including very scary details.

Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe.(Photo: Bettmann).

In 1838, Poe published the novel "The Narrative of Arthur's Gordon Pym of Nantucket" , roughly translated as "The Story of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" . This is the only complete novel in his life.

The novel tells the story of Arthur Gordon Pym, a stowaway on the Grampus whale boat. Many strange things happened. The storm sunk the ship, only 4 survived and floated on the sea. After many days of drifting, they were in extreme hunger. Finally Pym and two others decided to kill the boy named Richard Parker to eat meat, after they drew to see who was entitled to survive.

The cannibalism actually happened 46 years later, in 1884. This story is told in the book Custom of the Sea , published in 2000 by author Neil Hanson.

The incident happened with Tom Dudley, the school boat of a group of 3-man sailors aboard the Mignonette. The ship left Southampton, England, arrived in Australia on May 19, 1884. During the journey, they encountered a terrible storm off the coast of West Africa. After 4 days of fighting the storm, a large wave finally sank the Mignonette.

The story of cannibalism in Poe's novel came true.(Photo: Wikipedia).

Fortunately, all 4 people survived. Dudley ordered the other three to move to a 4m-long lifeboat and carry some food. The sailors ate anything left on the boat to survive. After 8 days, they no longer have food and water. By the 19th day, Dudley faced the inevitable, which was to kill the weakest of them to help others survive.

On the 24th, a German ship rescues all three and takes them back to the mainland. Dudley was arrested for murder. The victim's name is Richard Parker, like the character in the novel Poe wrote in the previous decade.