Edgar Allan Poe, the author of the short story, “The Purloined Letter,” is hailed as the master-craftsman of what is now known as the modern detective genre. It is one of his three fascinating detective stories, the other two being, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Mystery of Marie Roget.” The fictional C. Auguste Dupin dominates all these stories. The plots and the actions in the stories are centered on him. From the point of view of investigations a small issue sometimes creates lots of confusion and acts as the stumbling block to proceed further. What would be the position of the investigator when the complainant and the prime suspect, both are very important persons? The loss to the complainant is her esteemed honor and the suspect is aware of her precarious position and blackmails her from his position of advantage.
The latent power of the sixth sense, the acumen to think differently as compared to the ordinary professional, makes Dupin outstanding. An allegory would testify the credentials and the extraordinary detective talents of Dupin. A young man fell sick and many specialist doctors were consulted but they could cure only half of his ailments. His headache was cured 50%, his tension was cured 50%, and the pain in the muscles was also cured 50%. The doctors were baffled. One day, his trusted friend came to inquire about his health, and when he studied the details about his sickness, he promised to cure the remaining half. He summoned his girl-friend, who lived in a different city. She arrived at the hospital and just touched his shoulder, patted him gently twice. And the patient jumped from the bed, fully cured. So, the author of the allegory says,
Half the cure is credited to the knowledgeable doctors’ medical research,
And half to her magical touch!
Dupin provides the magical touch to the investigations of the cases. That is the difference between his style of working and other professional investigators who go by the rule-book. “The Purloined Letter” establishes a new genre of short fiction in American literature: the detective story. Poe considered “The Purloined Letter” his best detective story, and critics have long identified the ways in which it redefines the mystery genre—it turns away from action toward intellectual analysis…” (SparkNotes….)
The story begins with an unnamed narrator discusses some of Dupin’s most famous cases with the renowned Parisian amateur detective C. Then the Perfect of the Police, codenamed G, arrives unexpectedly. The arrival of such an important official to the threshold of Dupin without prior appointment or intimation is something unusual. The Perfect has a strange case that he would like to discuss with Dupin. The scene at the apartment of Dupin and the style in which G finds him sets the tone for the curious story. The evening has been described by Edgar Allan Poe, as “after dark one gusty evening.”(The Purloined….) A stormy plot is ahead for which Dupin has to find the immediate solution. The fact that G has arrived personally and did not send his junior official indicates the urgency and importance of the case. It must certainly relate to some important personality. The friends are enjoying the bliss of meditation and a meerschaum. Poe writes, “For one hour at least we had maintained a profound silence; while each, to any casual observer, might have seemed intently and exclusively occupied with the curling eddies of smoke that oppressed the atmosphere of the chamber. For myself, however, I was mentally engaging certain topics which had formed matter for conversation between us at an earlier period of the evening; I mean the affair of the Rue Morgue, and the mystery attending the murder of Marie Rogêt.”(The Purloined…)
And then G arrives!
In logic, such a situation is termed as “post hoc ergo proper hoc.”(The Latin expression-“After this, therefore because (on account) of this.” This is a logical fallacy. “Since the event followed this one, that event must have caused by this one.” – meaning thereby G arrives at a time when Dupin is deeply involved in thinking about a detective case that he had solved earlier. This is something of a coincidence, the timing of the thought process related to detective story and the arrival of G, to discuss about an issue that is going to turn into a great detective history! When an individual is in the meditative frame of mind, he is in the best position to think creatively and to find out apt solutions.
The subsequent point by point, detailed conversation, itself sets the tone for the detailed investigations. Perhaps that is the style of an ace-detective like Dupin when he takes up the fresh brief. He decides the merit of the issue on the basis of such questions and the answers provided to him. In the present case, he is questioning a police official of a high rank, the Parisian Perfect. The issue tendered before him also belongs to the highest ‘ranking’ individual, the Queen. This makes the case all the more sensitive. Since is relates to some secret personal issue, for the investigating officer like G, this becomes ‘the double tragedy.” Any laxity on his part would cost him his job, besides the extreme humiliation of loss of position and respect. The guilt of failure in investigations! To retire as a failure official is another aspect of the grim dilemma in which G is placed.
The arrival of G, to Dupin’s place can be compared to the arrival of a defeated soldier from the front. Both had not seen each other for several years. G was full of anxieties, for his inability to solve the case for the past more than a month. He had exercised all his administrative skills, followed the methods of investigations that were imparted in the police training school and also in the practical school of experience, and yet he is nowhere near to crack the case. To use highhanded methods of the police is not feasible; due to the sensitive nature of the case and the personalities involved in the case -one is a Minister in the Government, and the other is Queen. He finds himself between the devil and the deep sea. As per the wishes of Dupin, they decide to discuss the issue in the dark. G makes fun of the understanding of Dupin in a light-hearted manner by saying, “That is another of your odd notions,” said the Prefect, who had a fashion of calling every thing “odd” that was beyond his comprehension, and thus lived amid an absolute legion of “oddities.”(The Purloined…) Dupin provides him with a pipe (a signal to make him free from his anxieties to the extent possible) and a comfortable chair to sit.
The ego problem and the piercing thought that he is unable to solve the case thus far create the upheavals in the mind of G which he is desperately trying to hide. When Dupin asks whether the issue is serious, he replies, “Oh no; nothing of that nature. The fact is, the business is very simple indeed, and I make no doubt that we can manage it sufficiently well ourselves; but then I thought Dupin would like to hear the details of it, because it is so excessively odd.” Dupin’s counter question is very meaningful. “Perhaps it is the very simplicity of the thing which puts you at fault,” said my friend. The introductory to the conversation concludes, “Ha! ha! ha – ha! ha! ha! – ho! ho! ho!” roared our visitor, profoundly amused, “oh, Dupin, you will be the death of me yet!” (The Purloined…..)
The pressure in his mind finds the outlet by the hearty laughter! By now, G has the perfect realization that only Dupin can rescue him from the odd situation that he finds himself. He has the confidence that Dupin will solve the case. What is most important about the case is the unscrupulous conduct of the Minister to steal the letter from Queen’s room, switch it for a letter of no importance, and begin to blackmail the Queen. He brags that he is in a position to show the letter in a moment’s notice. That ultimately becomes his undoing, when a detective like Dupin is set on its trial. “Be Brief,” are the watchwords for a competitive individual. “Dupin asks the Perfect if he knows what he is looking for and the Prefect reads off a minute description of the letter, which Dupin memorizes. The Prefect then bids them good day.”(The Purloined…)
No more discussion. G calls it a day. Dupin knows that he has ‘solved’ the case and will claim 50,000 francs reward placed on the solution of the case. The principle applied by Dupin to solve the case is straight forward and simple. Determine the intelligence of the opponents and play upon that to interpret their next move. “The hallmark of “The Purloined Letter” is its use of abstract logic by C. Auguste Dupin. The story is one of what Poe called his “tales of ratiocination,” which employed reason—rather than horror, as in many others Poe stories—as a narrative tool. Dupin, who also solves the cases in some of Poe’s other tales of ratiocination, is a detective who uses deductive reasoning to solve the case of the stolen letter.”(Theme….)
Conclusion:
The parameters adopted by Dupin to solve the case: How could D agree to produce the letter in a moment’s notice, if he had made elaborate arrangements to hide it in a conspicuous place, as imagined by G and his investigators? Dupin judged that D’s plan is otherwise. Pretending weak sight and wearing green spectacles are all the tricks of the trade of investigation. Dupin wishes to observe the minute details related to D, without being observed by him. Eyes are important part of the face, which is comparable to mirror. Forgetting the snuffbox, the gunshot etc, are stage-managed by Dupin to complete the investigations as per the plan chalked out. Moreover, Dupin is morally right and the Minister D is a manipulator and corrupt. In the end, truth triumphs! The difference between Dupin and D is, the former does the right thing for the right cause, the later does the wrong thing for the wrong cause. “Poe created the Parisian detective Dupin. The French detective Dupin is little remembered today, but his spirit lives on in the most famous and successful of consulting detectives, Sherlock Holmes.”(Edgar…) The genius detective is not only smart, he has the capacity to outsmart the opposition and he has desperate remedies for the desperate situations!
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References:
The Purloined Letter–Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
www.classicshorts.com/stories/purloinedltr.html Retrieved on October 27, 2008
Edgar Allan Poe: A Who2 Profile
www.who2.com/edgarallanpoe.html Retrieved on October 27, 2008
Theme-The Purloined Letter Summary and Analysis Summary-
www.bookrags.com/The_Purloined_Letter – 45k Retrieved on October 27, 2008
SparkNotes…Poe’s Short Stories: “The Purloined Letter” (1844)
; www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section9.rhtml; Retrieved on October 27, 2008
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