4th
SEM, ENGLISH HONOURS
CEH10
American Literature
The Purloined Letter as a detective
story or tale of ratiocination:
Note on the
characters of main characters compare and contrast the character of Dupin and
Monsieur G.
Of all of Poe's stories of ratiocination
(or detective stories), "The Purloined Letter" is considered his
finest. This is partially due to the fact that there are no gothic elements,
such as the gruesome descriptions of dead bodies, as there was in "The
Murders in the Rue Morgue." But more important, this is the story that
employs most effectively the principle of ratiocination; this story brilliantly
illustrates the concept of the intuitive intellect at work as it solves a
problem logically. Finally, more than with most of his stories, this one is
told with utmost economy.
"The Purloined
Letter" emphasizes several devices from "The Murders in the Rue
Morgue" and adds several others. The story is divided into two parts. In
the first part, Monsieur G —— , Prefect of Police in Paris, visits Dupin with a
problem: A letter has been stolen and is being used to blackmail the person
from whom it was stolen. The thief is known (Minister D —— ) and even the
method by which it was stolen is known. The problem is to retrieve the letter,
since the writer and the victim, as well as Minister D —— , have important
posts in the government; the demands he is making are becoming dangerous
politically. The Prefect has searched Minister D —— 's home thoroughly, even
taking the furniture apart; he and his men found nothing. Dupin's advice is
that they thoroughly re-search the house. A month later, Monsieur G —— returns,
having found nothing. This time, he says that he will pay fifty thousand francs
to anyone who can obtain the letter for him. Dupin invites him to write the
check; when this is done, Dupin hands the Prefect the letter without any
further comment.
The second half of
"The Purloined Letter" consists of Dupin's explanation, of how he
obtained the letter. One of his basic assumptions is that the case is so
difficult to solve because it appears to be so simple. Beyond
that, Dupin introduces the method of psychological deduction. Before he did
anything else, he reviewed everything he knew about Minister D —. With this in
mind, Dupin tried to reconstruct the Minister's thinking, deciding that he
would very likely have hidden the letter in plain sight. Using this theory,
Dupin visited Minister D —— and found the letter in plain sight but boldly
disguise. Having duplicated the letter, he exchanged his facsimile for the
original during a prearranged diversion. His solution introduces into detective
fiction the formula of "the most obvious place."
Dupin is, of course,
the original eccentric but brilliant detective. He seems to be a very private
person, though one with connections and acquaintances in many places. He
prefers the darkness and the evening; darkness, he feels, is particularly
conducive to reflection. He prefers to gather his information and to ponder
thoroughly before any action is taken. He talks little; an hour or more of
contemplative silence seems common. And, of course, he is an expert in the
psychology of people of various types; indeed, he seems to be learned in a
number of areas — mathematics and poetry, for example.
The Prefect, Monsieur
G —— , is a contrast to Dupin. Whereas Dupin is primarily concerned with the
psychological elements of the case. G ——
is almost wholly concerned with physical details and evidence. He talks much
and says little. Dupin considers things broadly, while G —— 's point of view is
extremely narrow. Anything G —— does not understand is "odd" and not
worth considering; for Dupin, that is a matter for investigation. G —— believes
in a great deal of physical activity during an investigation, while Dupin believes
in a maximum of thought and a minimum of physical exertion. Though Dupin says
that the Paris police are excellent within their limitations, it is clear that
G —— 's limitations are quite severe.
The personality of the
unnamed narrator, the Dupin-chronicler, lies between these two extremes. Though
he shares some of Dupin's tastes — silent contemplation in darkness, for
example — and has some understanding of Dupin's methods, he seems
psychologically closer to G —— than to Dupin. He seems to be a rather ordinary
person with rather ordinary views and ideas. Thus, his assumptions and his
interjections are often erroneous; he assumes, for example, that if the police
have not been able to find the letter after their search, then it must be
elsewhere. In his argument with Dupin about mathematicians, the narrator takes
the common view and attitude toward mathematicians, a position that Dupin
explicitly suggests is idiocy. In other words, the narrator is a mediator
between Dupin and the reader. His reactions are similar to those of the reader,
though he is somewhat less astute than the reader, so that the reader can feel
superior to him. Naturally, such a narrator guides our attitudes toward Dupin,
G —— , and the case. Finally, such a narrator determines the amount of information
which a reader receives and guides the attention of the reader to the
information received. In this case, the narrator tells us everything, but only
as he receives it; because he did not witness the case being solved, the reader
doesn't either.
The idea that the
reader is a participant in the investigation of a crime and thus should be
given all the information on which the detective bases his conclusions is quite
modern. In "The Purloined Letter," the reader has little chance to
participate, first because little information about Minister D —— 's character
is given in the first half of the story, and, second, because there is no
indication of any activity by Dupin until the second half. Poe's purpose was
not to invite reader participation, but rather to emphasize rationality,
stressing logical thinking as the means of solving problems. Consequently,
Dupin's exposition of his thought processes are the most important part of the
story. Without this highlighting of the logical investigation and solution of a
problem, the detective story may never have developed. However, with this
method and approach established, it became logical, and rather easy, to evolve
the idea of the reader as a participant.
Attempting to
determine the psychology of the criminal is an honorable tradition in detective
fiction. The particular methods that are used change as more is learned about
human beings, their behaviors, and their motivations; they also change, perhaps
even more, as psychological theories change. Thus, much of Poe's — or Dupin's —
psychology, especially the explanations, seems outdated. For instance, the boy
whom Dupin uses as an example arranges his face so it is as similar to the
other person's expression as possible; this is supposed to give rise to
thoughts and feelings that are similar to those of the other person. In the
sense that outward expressions — facial expressions, clothes, and so on — are
thought to influence the way a person feels, this idea is somewhat still
current; however, that effect is thought to be general rather than specific,
and we no longer believe that we can gain much knowledge of another person in
this way. In addition, it is probably true that certain habits of thinking are
likely to contribute to a person's success in a field; however, the
distinctions are by no means as rigid as Poe made them seem, nor are the
qualities so narrow. Although the principles that Dupin works from are rather
outdated, his method is direct. This method is, of course, applicable to other
kinds of problems posed in detective fiction; whenever the detective can learn
and apply some knowledge of the criminal's psychology, he is closer to the
solution of the crime.
Other details in
"The Purloined Letter" reveal the story's era — the political system
in France, Dupin's comments about poetry, mathematics, and the sciences in
particular. Nevertheless, the story still reads well, and the details are
overshadowed by the sweep of the puzzle and the story. Reading, "The
Purloined Letter" is of prime historical importance for it establishes the
method of psychological deduction, the solution of the most obvious place, and
the assumption that the case that seems simplest may be the most difficult to
solve. Whether one is interested in good reading or has a historical interest
in detective fiction, "The Purloined Letter" provides both.
