Research Proposal The Defeat of the Detective: Investigating the Elements of the Detective Novel in Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose Introduction: In recent years, the universally popular detective genre, which was invented in 1841 by Edgar Allan Poe, has been the site of various critical inquiries and theoretical presumptions. A mystery or detective novel, according to Dennis Porter, “prefigures at the outset the form of its denouement by virtue of the highly visible question mark hanging over its opening”. Answering this question requires, in Portor’s view, requires “a reading approach that parallels the investigative process as a process of making connections”, or of what Priestman calls “bridging gaps in the chain of cause and effect”. This “question mark”, according to Martin Priestman, “encourages the reader to imitate the detective, and to retrace the causative steps from effects back to causes, and in doing so to attempt to answer the question at the heart of all stories of mystery and detection: who did it?” The term ‘whodunnit’ was hence coined in the 1930s to describe a type of …show more content…
The central element of any detective story is the mystery or puzzle and its resolution provided by the detective who is the central figure of the detective story. Therefore, the researcher has undertaken a study which takes a closer look at The Name of the Rose from the perspective of the detective genre using the treatises by John Saggs and Thomas Stauder, key authors and critics in the detective genre, as sources in forming the theoretical
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” is a short psychological thriller. The murder of Fortunato haunts Montresor so greatly that he feels the compulsion to tell the story some fifty years after the fact. He appears to be in the late stages of life desperately attempting to remove the stain of murder from his mind. That it is still so fresh and rich in specifics is proof that it has plagued him, “Perhaps the most chilling aspect of reading Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ for the first time is not the gruesome tale that Montresor relates, but the sudden, unpredictable, understated revelation that the murder, recounted in its every lurid detail, occurred not yesterday or last week, but a full fifty years prior to the telling” (DiSanza).
Dashiell Hammett’s novel, The Maltese Falcon, is a hard-boiled detective novel; a subset of the mystery genre. Before the appearance of this sub-genre, mystery novels were mainly dominated by unrealistic cases and detectives like Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. As Malmgren states, “The murders in these stories are implausibly motivated, the plots completely artificial, and the characters pathetically two-dimensional, puppets and cardboard lovers, and paper mache villains and detectives of exquisite and impossible gentility.” (Malmgren, 371) On the other hand, Hammett tried to write realistic mystery fiction – the “hard-boiled” genre.
The Pacific coast port city of San Francisco, California provides a distinctively mysterious backdrop in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. Unlike many other detective stories that are anchored in well-known metropolises such as Los Angeles or New York City, Hammett opted to place the events of his text in the lesser-known, yet similarly exotic cultural confines of San Francisco. Hammett used his own intricate knowledge of the San Francisco Bay Area - coupled with details collected during a stint as a detective for the now defunct Pinkerton Agency - to craft a distinctive brand of detective fiction that thrived on such an original setting (Paul 93). By examining the setting of 1920’s San Francisco in The Maltese Falcon, it becomes apparent that one of Hammett’s literary strengths was his exceptional ability to intertwine non-fictional places with a fictional plot and characters in order to produce a logical and exceedingly believable detective mystery.
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.
The questions being answered in this paper is” What are red herrings and how are they used in the novel The Body in the Library?”. Red herrings are used in literature a lot during detective, or mystery fiction books. Red herrings are made to misled the reader, to make them believe it is one thing when something else is happening they do not realize. An example of a red herring would be “She said frankly, "It gives you a turn, doesn't it, seeing anything
If the figure of the detective is to restore the state of peace and grace in society, this role is hindered and eventually dissolves against the backdrop of the paradox which defines the city throughout the novel. For example, in the novel, the Iguana?s constant switching of identity and the corresponding murders that occur in areas outside Bologna only make it more challenging for Grazia to connect an individual who appears at the scene of each crime. In a sense then, the deceptive illusion which the Iguana represents exposes the contradictions by which the city seems bound. For instance, to a foreigner of Bologna, the city can be characterised by its ?well defined perimeters? However, the constant reminders that are employed by the narrative (?This city is not what it seems?) only exculpate a notion of its truth that the city boundaries conceal a deeper layer of truth that could result in potentially destructive consequences: You think this city is small because you?re looking at what lies within the city walls. These consequenc...
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.
He describes Edgar Allan Poe as the “father of the detective story” because his character Dupin was a detective-like character before anything like that existed in the real life police world. Poe developed the idea of having a sealed room where the crime occurred, having a suspect who was wrongfully committed, and having the true criminal be the least likely culprit. Those aspects appear in various stories since the era of Poe. Gates’s claims the classic detective has powers of observation and rational thinking far beyond the new evolving technologies of the era when he says, “Fingerprint and ballistic tests are objective tests that anyone can be trained to do, whereas the skills of observation and ratiocination are not only of a higher caliber but also seemingly more likely for a reader of Holmes to possess”. In comparison to the police, the detective is an amateur, but that does not hinder their ability to arrive at the final truth.
The acclaimed authors, Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle, formulate the characters of Auguste Dupin and Sherlock Holmes respectively, to be similar in the way that they analyze, deduce, and connect segments of desperate and often-thought “unsolvable” detective cases. Through their comparable techniques and system of deduction, Dupin and Holmes never fail to trace back their evidence to the scene of the crime. However, due to the vast difference in the writing styles of Poe and Doyle, the audience observes the main characters not as clones, but rather an analogous pair that think alike, but do not act alike. The personalities of Auguste Dupin and Sherlock Holmes, although present are recognizable differences in their actions, continue to
In crafting the detective mystery, Edgar Allan Poe is the only author credited with inventing a new genre of literature. His contribution of this brand of story telling greatly influences writers to this day. “The Purloined Letter” is the final tale in the trilogy of the clever and cunning amateur detective, C. Auguste Dupin. In this story, The Prefect of the Parisian police calls upon Dupin to aid in an investigation that has baffled and frustrated the police. Dupin finds a worthy adversary in the antagonst, Minister D_. Dupin must identify with the mind of the criminal in order to retrieve a stolen letter and return it to its rightful owner. With the dynamic relationship between Dupin, Prefect G_., and Minister D_., Poe skillfully illustrates that an ingenious felon will always outwit his opponent if the opponent is incapable of identifying with the felon’s intellect.
It is very interesting to note how the conventions of 1940’s hardboiled private eye fiction translate into the 1970’s. The low-rent drabness of the genre loses much of its allure. The dark shadows and long nights of urban Los Angeles become the bright lights and warm sunshine of Malibu beaches. The detective’s normally snappy dialogue turns into joking asides. Marlowe’s hardboiled narration becomes the self-conscious mutterings of a lonely man talking to himself. The romantic myth of a man set apart from the city is turned on its head as a pathetic man living alone with his cat.
“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (Romeo & Juliet. II, ii, 1-2). Had the rose been named anything else, it would still be associated with the same things: sweet smell, usually red, and sometimes thorny. In some cases names are not important, just a group of letters, together forming a word that will forever be associated with the object it named. However, when naming a work of literature, the title can set the mood for the entire outlook on the work. Some authors choose to reveal the main theme or story in the title, while some decide to make the title more ambiguous and unveil how it relates only as one continues reading. In Carson McCullers’ book, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, the significance
In every piece of art, it is important to have a clear portrayal of the two sides of a coin. In this case, pieces of a story are often made better when an author can portray the protagonists as well as the antagonist in a clear manner. “The Simple Art of Murder”, as well as The Big Sleep, reveal the lives of two detectives that are committed to solving crimes and hence finding justice to innocent victims. While going deeper into pieces, it is made clear that even the cleanest protagonist or detectives are bound to have their image tainted in the line of duty. Predominantly, they end up needing the help of their partners so as to emerge victorious.
Edgar Allen Poe’s tale of murder and revenge, “The Cask of Amontillado”, offers a unique perspective into the mind of a deranged murderer. The effectiveness of the story is largely due to its first person point of view, which allows the reader a deeper involvement into the thoughts and motivations of the protagonist, Montresor. The first person narration results in an unbalanced viewpoint on the central conflict of the story, man versus man, because the reader knows very little about the thoughts of the antagonist, Fortunato. The setting of “The Cask of Amontillado”, in the dark catacombs of Montresor’s wine cellar, contributes to the story’s theme that some people will go to great lengths to fanatically defend their honor.
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.