How to Be a Detective - The Ultimate Guide

Introduction 

Edgar Allen Poe is the mastermind behind several detective fiction stories. The current study analyses three of his short stories, namely: Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Purloined Letter, and The Mystery of Marie Roget. The core similarity between the texts is that they all have one principal character, Augustine Dupin. Dupin is an intelligent man who spends most of his time reading books. The story is narrated via first-person narration technique. The unnamed speaker is Dupin’s partner and plays the critical role of describing the events in the story. Irrefutably, crime and murder prevail in the tales and the detective strives to rid the society of these evils. He succeeds in solving some cases but fails in others. Dupin is depicted as an intellectual, and a skilled detective who combines genius and intuition to solve crimes. 

The Kind of Detective that Dupin Is 

Dupin is more of a hard-boiled as opposed to old-school detective. Just like other such investigators, he examines the facts of the cases he handles before making any conclusions. Logical reasoning is extensively employed in all three stories written by Edgar Poe. In the Murders in the Rue Morgue, Dupin is depicted as an independent and isolated individual who law enforcers consult when they are unable to solve problems. For instance, in “ The Purloined Letter” the prefect of the Paris police seeks his help with a case that Dupin perceives to be too simple. In detail, they wish to know the whereabouts of a letter that has been stolen from the royal apartments. According to Dern (2015), Dupin’s logical reasoning is evident when he advises the prefect to search the premise of the suspect, arguing that the power of the letter comes from its availability and that it must be in the minister’s household. The police search the premise and find no letter. Later on, Dupin hands it over to the prefect who claims that he will give a handsome amount of money to the individual who retrieves it. 

Again, Dupin’s vast intellect and exceptional levels of reasoning are demonstrated through the explanation he provides. He claims that in the even and odd game , players are forced to guess if the number of toys that another person is holding is even or odd. Those who guess right obtain the toys whereas wrong guesses lead to the loss of toys (Poe, 2006, p. 91). The young lad in Dupin's tale is highly intelligent and experienced since he guesses based on the knowledge of those he plays against. Additionally, when he is challenged, the boy expresses similar facial expressions as his opponent. Dupin argues that this knowledge enables him to make the right guesses. He further stresses that the reason why the Paris police fail to solve cases is that they do not use these strategies. 

Dupin contends that their first instinct is to search for the letter in places where they would hide it in such circumstances. He emphasizes the fact that the most effective way to hide something is not hiding it at all. Dupin finds the letter since he does not focus his search on the nooks and crannies of the minister’s apartment, but rather, where the police would first conduct their search ( Dern, 2015 ). The protagonist is depicted as a rational individual who uses facts and direct and indirect experiences to solve mysteries ( Miranda, 2017 ). Irrefutably, the levels of competency between this character and the police vary even though Dupin has received no prior training in the field. 

Likewise, in The Mystery of Marie Roget, Dupin conducts a rational analysis using scientific research. He tells the persona that drowned bodies, or even those that are dumped in water after violent deaths take up to six days for decomposition to commence so that the bodies can float on water. He further claims that even if a cannon is fired over the corpse, it is bound to sink again in case it floats before five or six days. In this case, Dupin bases his arguments from facts obtained from his research (Poe, 2006, p. 45). 

Dupin is highly skilled in the field of observation, something which most incompetent detectives lack. The core similarity between Poe’s three short stories is that they all center on the systematic discovery by reasonable means of the exact circumstances of mysterious events. Poe’s stories have three essential elements, and none can occur in the absence of the other. Firstly, in every rational crime-based tale, the crime is the primary moving force. Undeniably, in the absence of any mystery worth unraveling, an offense fails to become operative. The final element is a consequence of the former. The launch is of little significance when compared to the analysis. It is imperative for the case analysis to be provided for the tale to be successful. Undeniably, Dupin is a hard-boiled kind of a detective. 

Dupin’s Traits 

Dupin is the main protagonist in Poe’s three short stories. Notably, he compares to a search engine which detects hidden information and unravels what the readers cannot by themselves. The character has several traits. First, he is portrayed as an intellectual who spends a considerable amount of money purchasing books and vast amounts of his time reading them, conducting research, and proposing solutions that prevail the society. In the Murders in the Rue Morgue, for instance , the persona first gets acquainted with Dupin in a library, in their quest to satisfy their thirst for knowledge through reading. Dupin is an extremely knowledgeable man, and he employs the information he acquires from books in his cases. In detail, he solves most of the mysteries using direct experiences or those he has gained from reading. 

Secondly, Dupin is rather non-social and only speaks when he has something meaningful to relay. For instance, Dupin and the narrator remain silent for more than fifteen minutes as they stroll the long dirty street of the Palais Royal (Poe, 2006, p. 7-8). Both characters are lost in thought as they ponder their life predicaments. The narrator claims that neither spoke a single syllable for fifteen minutes as they walked. Dupin is not the most extraverted of characters. Thirdly, the protagonist is also a skilled observer and integrates this skill, together with genius and intuition to solve cases. The speaker admits that Dupin has an impressive imagination. He claims that “I was astonished at the vast extent of his reading” and “felt my soul enkindled within me by the wild fervor and the vivid freshness of his imagination” (Poe, 6). The statement indicates that Dupin is an intellectual who has augmented his intellect through extensive reading. 

Furthermore, despite his not being a sociable character, Dupin is a competent observer. For instance, as they tour the streets of the previously mentioned place, Dupin breaks the silence by stating what exactly the narrator is thinking of. He says, “ He is a very little fellow, that’s true, and would do better for the Theatre desVarietes .” Undeniably, this shows that he has observed people for so long that he has become a protégé in this area. The stories reveal that Dupin and the persona barely go out during the day. Instead, they fancy taking long walks around the Parisian streets during the night observing people and making guesses regarding who they are and where they come from. Dern (2015) posits that o bservation is one of his main hobbies and he uses facial expressions and non-verbal cues to make deductions. Dupin acknowledges the significance of the surfaces of things since they are the most useful sources of information. 

The trait above is what makes Dupin a competent detective. Notably, not everyone can be a good detective, even with all the training in the world. The prevalence of crime in contemporary society is because law enforcers fail to make important observations. As a result, criminals conduct their operations right before their eyes. Dupin carries out thorough scrutiny of his cases and looks beyond apparent clues, which enables him to solve most of his cases. He has an extraordinary degree of mental keenness which is a critical requirement in this line of work. 

Violence in Investigations and The World in which Dupin Inhabits 

Contemporary novels and crime drams depict criminal justice officials in a negative light. Law enforcers, detectives, and lawyers, among others, exploit their power to gratify their desires. In most, these professionals use violence in their daily operations. The case is quite different in Dupin’s case; he engages in no violence in his daily investigation endeavor’s. However, crime and murder to be precise prevails the world in which the character is situated. For instance, in the first story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, the police investigate the murder of an elderly woman and her daughter. 

The incident is reported by neighbors who hear the women’s screams. Surprisingly, the perpetrator of the crime fees the scene even though the apartment is sealed from the inside. Likewise, in the second story, The Mystery of Marie Roget, a young lady’s dead body is found dumped in the Hudson River. The deceased lady is later on identified as Mary Rogers, a gorgeous woman, employed as a clerk in a tobacco shop. The tattered clothes of the young lady’s clothes indicate that she was dragged into the river. In the Purloined Letter , which is Poe’s third story, characters in senior and prominent positions such as the minister use blackmail to obtain power. The minister hides the letter so that he can retain control over. Crime and murder are therefore rampant and dominant themes in Poe’s works. 

Dupin’s Partner 

Dupin’s partner is the unnamed persona in the three short stories, who takes readers through all the events, using first-person narration technique. The persona spends most of his time with the detective, and his primary role is to record and narrate Dupin’s actions and words. The two characters are like two halves of one individual. In detail, Dupin mostly talks and does a thing while the narrator listens and record. The two fill each other’s gaps. For instance. Dupin is a keen observer while the other is not. Likewise, the narrator is a social person while the former is not. Each has the characteristics that the other does not. Hence, each of them is complete when they have the other. Generally, the characters share a symbiotic relationship. At the beginning of the story, they meet for the very first time as they look for the same book. Additionally, they live in the same house and spend most of their time in the company of each other. The narrator does not actively participate in crime solving, but rather records and narrates what Dupin does or says. 

The type of Villain the Detective Fights Against 

The villains in the three stories are creative and cunning. In the Mystery of Marie Roget, the person who murders the beautiful lady who works as a clerk in a tobacco shop violently kills the young lady, then dumps her into the river. The main reason for this is because he/she realizes how difficult it is for local police to solve such cases. Undeniably, the law enforcers in the story lack knowledge and experience in investigating such cases. Determining whether the lady was first killed then dumped or if she was drowned is a challenging task and Dupin intercedes to give his opinions on the matter. In such a case, the villain is intelligent and crafty. 

Furthermore, in The Purloined Letter, the minister hides the letter he uses for blackmail in the place where the police least expect. The former understands that the best way of keeping something hidden is not hiding it at all. He, therefore, places the letter where he knows the police will search first. Concurrently, the law enforcers fail to find the letter even when they search the premise once more. Dupin, on the other hand, since he thinks similarly as the villain, can locate the letter and hand it back to the prefect of the Paris police. The villains have some significant experience in the lines of a crime they specialize in. They are also cunning and creative, which deters them from getting caught. 

Whether the Detective Wins in His War against Evil 

The prevalence of horror and violence dominates Poe’s stories. Dupin can unravel and solve some cases while he fails to attain the same in others. For instance, finds the hidden letter in The Purloined Letter ridding the minister the source in which he draws power to blackmail other people. Dupin also succeeds in unraveling the mystery behind the murder of an elderly woman and her daughter. The neighbors claim that they did not understand the language used by the perpetrator. According to Marković and Oklopčić (2016), h e logically argues that no human being had the strength to pull a young girl’s body up the chimney. He also concludes that the two women were killed by an animal. Dupin’s claims are right since the two are murdered by an Orangutan which escapes from a sailor near the Rue Morgues. “ Here is a woman strangled to death by manual strength, and thrust up a chimney, head downward. Ordinary assassins employ no such modes of murder as this. Least of all, do they thus dispose of the murdered? In the manner of thrusting the corpse up the chimney, you will admit that there was something excessively outré—something altogether irreconcilable with our common notions of human action, even when we suppose the actors the most depraved of men ,” (Poe, 2006, p. 26) 

However, he does not succeed in The Mystery of Marie Roget. Dupin and the police have different views and conclusions about the possible events that took place during Mary Roger’s death. The former relies on the popular theory that the character is murdered by a gang of ruffians, while the latter rejects the proposition, claiming that if this were the case, then one of the group members would have already confessed He posits that only one individual committed the murder. He further argues that the killer was probably a sailor who dragged the young woman into the river. Dupin further claims that the perpetrator drags the lady first by the cloth belt around her waist, then shifts to the one around her neck. The case is not successfully solved as compared to the one in the previous story. 

The Relationship Between Dupin and the Police 

Dupin maintains a healthy and professional relationship with the police. Law enforcers consult him when cases are difficult and beyond their skills emerge. For instance, the prefect of the Paris police request Dupin’s help when a letter is stolen from the Royal apartments. 

The Role of Women in Dupin’s World and Their place as Minor Characters in the Stories 

Female characters in the stories are not only secondary characters, but they are always dead from the beginning of the stories. The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Mystery of Mary Roget start with cases of women killed ( Martens, 2013 ). Women such as Madame L’Espanaye and her daughter the Chevalier, as well as Mary Rogers, are minor and vulnerable characters. The female gender is weaker than the male. They have no voice in the stories since they die during the initial stages of the tale. Male characters, on the other hand, dominate the stories and actively participate in investigating murders. Furthermore, Poe’s work is an excellent example of the misogynistic satisfaction that comes from killing women. Justice is not sought for the women who are killed in the stories. For instance, the men who are suspected are set free, and no charges are imposed. Even the Orangutan is not punished or killed for his wrongdoings. Women are helpless and play a passive role in Poe’s fictional world. 

Conclusion 

Edgar Poe’s detective fiction centers around crimes such as blackmail and murder. Dupin, the protagonist, is a skilled detective, even though he has not received any significant training in the area. He combines intuition and genius to solve puzzles that local police officers cannot. He is an exceptional man with high levels of mental keenness which enable him to make important observations in the world of crime. Poe’s stories are male-dominated since female characters are underrepresented in the tales. However, in his peculiar way, the author gives insight into the prevalence of crime in different societies and the lack of skilled investigators to unravel various mysteries. 

References 

Dern, J. A. (2015). Iron Poe: The Rhetoric of “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” in Story and Song.  The Edgar Allan Poe Review ,  16 (1), 70-82. 

Marković, H., & Oklopčić, B. (2016). Edgar Allan Poe’s Chevalier Auguste Dupin: The Use of Ratiocination in Fictional Crime Solving.  HUM ,  15 , 91. 

Martens, E. (2013).  The Representation of Women in the Works of Edgar Allan Poe  (Doctoral dissertation, Dissertation, Gent University. 2012-2013). 

Miranda, M. (2017). Reasoning through madness: the detective in Gothic crime fiction.  Palgrave Communications ,  3 , 17045. 

Poe, A., E., (2006). The Murders in the Rue Morgue: The Dupin Tales. The Modern Library, New York.