E.A. Poe became the father of modern day detective stories by introducing Dupin in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" as the first detective to use analytical and imaginative reasoning to solve the mystery and will create a guideline for all detective stories to come. The word "detective" was not in existence until Poe's writings. Mysteries had existed but never such a story that used a "detector" or placed such emphasis upon analysis versus trial and error. The vivid painting of the scene of the crime as well as the crime itself was likewise never done in writings until Poe.
Poe was fascinated with puzzles, word games and secret codes. (Pos-Ho pg 1333) Poe expresses this fascination through his writings to dazzle his readers. Poe utilizes deductive reasoning in his stories to imitate a type of puzzle. This he was a master of and made his detective character that much more unique. David Van Leer comments on Poe's use of this reasoning in his essay "The World of the Dupin Tales" (pg 326) "Detection in Poe is less a kind of plot than a form of truth, less a way to tell a story than a means to know the world. The real interest in these stories is not who or what done it but what truth and world are and how they may be reconstructed and what will follow from that reconstruction."
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" again is unique in that the entire story is told backward from the normal story telling pattern. Everything is in the narrative to give the reader the outcome. Poe himself said "Where is the ingenuity of unraveling a web which you yourself have woven for the sole purpose of unraveling?" (Unger, Leonard. pg 420) With this attitude Poe gives the reader a feeling that the plots always seem to be impossible. The us...
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... character analysis of Dupin and the narrator.
Galloway, David. Short Story Criticism Vol. 1 essay. Detroit, Michigan. Gale Research Company, 1983. pg 406
Provides story analysis such as how Poe became the creator of detective fiction.
Pos-Ho. Critical survey of mystery and Detective Fiction. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Salem Press, 1988. pgs 1332-1337
Story analysis how deductive reasoning is played out.
Van Lerr, David. The World of the Dupin Tales essay from Selected Tales Oxford Worlds Classic. Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press, 1998
Gives complete character analysis of Dupin
Poe, Edgar Allen. Britannica Student Encyclopedia. 2004. Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service. http://www.britannica.com/ebi/articale?tocId=9276477.
Background and history of E.A Poe.
The birth of classic detective fiction was originated just in the mid nineteenth century, and was producing its own genre. Classical detective fiction follows a set of rules called the ‘Ten commandments of detective fiction’. The genre is so popular it can bee seen by the number of sales in any good book stores. Many of these books have been created a long time ago and there is still a demand for these types of books. The popularity is still ongoing because it provides constant entertainment, and also the reader can also have a role of detective trying to solve the crime/case committed. Classical detective fiction has a formula, the detective story starts with a seemingly irresolvable mystery, typically a murder, features the astute, often unconventional detective, a wrongly accused suspect to whom the circumstantial evidence points, and concludes with a startling or unexpected solution to the mystery, during which the detective explains how he or she solved the mystery. Formula that includes certain elements such as, a closed location to keep the number of suspects down, red hearings spread around the stories to keep the reader entertained yet interacted.
Poe’s life was never an easy one which could have gave him the inspiration he need to create such dark tales. From the “The Raven” which makes the reader feel along with narrator over the loss of someone dear and spiraling into a state of depression. To the tale of “The Tell-Tale Heart” which makes a person think why the narrator believe he is sane and in the right for killing the man. Edgar Allan Poe writes dark tales but his stories draw a person in and leaves the reader
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809. He is considered a part of the American Romanticism period. He is best known for his works of mystery and psychological terror. Poe is recognized for his gothic tales of mystery, death, terror, puzzles, and psychological problems (poets.org). He has influenced many writers including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes series. Poe was different than other authors in that he was influenced by his own current life. He had endured many deaths and dark periods. His mother died of tuberculosis and so did his foster mother later on. His wife, Virginia Clemm, also died from this terrible disease. This especially was evident in his works. She influenced him in his works of “Annabel Lee” and “The Raven” (poets.org). Poe uses the themes of terror and the mystery of the mind to show that under the circumstances anything can happen to anyone. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Purloined Letter” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Edgar Allan Poe explores horror, the mystery of psychology and puzzles in order to show the depth of the human mind and the consequences of it.
Pike, Gerald. “Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Short Fiction Writers.” Short Story Criticism. Ed. Thomas Votteler. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale Research International Limited, 1990. 90. Print.
A detective story is a genre of fiction in which a person attempts to solve a crime. The detective may be a professional or an amateur, and generally has nothing to gain from solving the crime. However in Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King”, the main character Oedipus is not only determined to solve a crime, but he is also in pursuit to find his own identity. This is similar to Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia” where Sherlock Holmes has been hired to work as a detective in return for monetary compensation. Both situations enable Oedipus and Sherlock to gain from unraveling the mysteries that sweep their towns hence making these stories different from most detective stories.
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated literary authors of all time, known for writing very suspenseful, dramatic short stories and a poet; is considered as being a part of the American Romantic Movement, and a lesser known opinion is he is regarded as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Most recognized for his mystery and macabre, a journey into the dark, ghastly stories of death, deception and revenge is what makes up his reputation. The short story under analysis is a part of his latter works; “The Cask of Amontillado”, a story of revenge takes readers into the mind of the murderer.
Poe gave birth to the detective stories we know today, still, before his works, there were detectives in literature, but no detection (there were investigators of crime in Lytton’s and Godwin’s works too, but not in the same meaning as Poe’s detective). Poe, instead of calling his writings detective stories, uses the term “tales of ratiocination”. According to the classical rules of detective fiction, three indispensable elements are necessary for success: the mystery, the detective and the solution/revelation. All these three can be found in his works. The Gold-Bug lacks the crime element, but still can be called a detective story because of the way of finding the pirate treasure, like the solving of a puzzle. Poe says detecting a crime is similar to a puzzle, because there is only one correct and perfect solution, which resembles a cryptogram. A cryptogram loses its interest when it has been solved. The detective characters are an image of Poe himself and all of them sh...
His stories had an immense importance among authors such as Stephen King, along with helping to establish the genres of science fiction and the detective story, which got him the named father of the detective story. When writing his work “Poe was concerned above all with the “effect” of his tale on the reader. This effect, he thought, should be single and unified. When readers finished the story, they ought to be left with a totality of impression, and every element of the story--character, style, tone, plot and so forth--should contribute to this effect” (Wright). So Poe sought to give his readers emotional and aesthetic pleasure, but also to get them to believe that his stories had a reality of their own. Poe’s early career path had him harboring two aspirations, one was writing and the other the army. The army aspiration didn’t last long and Poe began to focuses solely on writing full time. Poe began working for a magazine, writing reviews of his contemporaries and developed a reputation as a cutthroat critic, but while working for the magazine he also published some of his own works in it. In later years Poe worked as an editor, a poet, a critic and would publish several poems, short stories, and collections of stories. Poe was one of the more famous Dark Romantic writers, leading his works to have Dark Romantic elements such
What makes a short story great? Great characters? A great plot? Whatever it is, it does not have as much time to develop as a novel does. However, in limited space, author Edgar Allan Poe creates a brilliant, suspenseful, and brain wracking story. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" begins by comparing the analytical mind to the game of chess. Eventually, Poe ties in the occurrences of a bizarre incident with a flashback to 18--. Through analyzing the scene and using clues and witnesses' testimonies, a character of great analytical power solves a murder mystery that no one else can even remotely get a grasp on. The story may sound ordinary at first, but upon the completion of the novel, a doubtful reader can change his mind. Edgar Allan Poe's utilization of different literary and writing techniques and his unique development of the story allow readers to indulge in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue".
In our first reading by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Murders at the Rue Morgue” we the readers follow the story of a case of a mystery murder. Dupin takes us to the crime scene multiple times to reveal new information to help solve this readings role of crime in the murder. With great observations, Dupin was able to come to a conclusion to find a sailor missing an orangutan. When the sailor arrived, he uncovered the truth that happened the night of the murder. This role of a criminal act now gives closure to the people of the town and the readers.
Edgar Allan Poe’s unique, fearless and morbid writing style has influenced literature throughout the world. He was once titled the "master of the macabre" (Buranelli, 57). One of the aspects in his life with which he struggled was social isolation. He used this as a topic in a number of poems and short stories. Poe's life was also filled with periods of fear and irrationality. He had a very sensitive side when it came to the female gender, any woman he was ever close to died at an early age. Another of his major battles, actually the only one he really lost, was his struggle with alcoholism. Of all these topics, Poe's favorites were the death of a beautiful woman, a feeling, which he knew all too well, and the general topic of death. Edgar Allan Poe endured a very difficult life and this is evident in his literary style.
Mysteries have always held great fascination for the human mind, not least because of the aura that surrounds them and the realm of the Unknown into which they delve. Coupled with the human propensity of being particularly curious about aspects which elude the average mind, the layer of intrigue that glosses over such puzzles makes for a heady combination of the literary and the popular. In the canon of detective fiction worldwide, no detective has tickled the curious reader’s imagination and held it in thrall as much as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. The 221-B, Baker Street, London ‘amateur’ detective combines a rare blend of intellectual prowess and sharp wit to crack a series of baffling riddles.
Poe is known for his melodramatic writing style, but the constant repetition of daunting words is enough to make any reader practically say out loud, “Come on, Poe. Try to be a little subtle, please.”
In “The Purloined Letter,” Edgar Allan Poe’s use of complex literary devices reveals his unique writing style. These literary devices include: allusions, metaphors, irony, foreshadowing events, and a detailed exposition. In the very beginning of the short story, Poe provides the reader with information about the setting and timing of the story. This aids the reader to clearly identify what exactly takes place. Poe, known perhaps more for his grotesque and gothic short stories, wrote detective and mystery short stories as well. Within one of his most famous detective short stories, “The Purloined Letter,” Poe illustrates the theme of logic and cleverness to prove the essential nature of intelligence and detail.
Allen, Orphia J., Short Story Criticism. Vol 16. Ed. Thomas Vottler. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, Co., 1990.