In “Tsalal: The 19th Century American Nightmare” I examine Edgar Allan Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket through Toni Morrison’s theory that an African presence exist in 19th-century American literature. In “Black Matter(s)” Morrison argues that this African presence in 19th century literature expresses the fears of American society. Thus, I examine The Narrative of Gordon Arthur Pym in order to see how blackness symbolizes the fears of 19th-century America.