English 111
September 11, 2013
Analyzing an Analyst; The Murders in the Rue Morgue By Edgar Allen Poe
Herein, are the opinions, on the opinions, of a very opinionated individual’s short story. I will start with a brief summary of the short story in question. Beginning in the spring of 18-- , a man meets a likeminded counterpart by the name of Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin, in Paris, France. Dupin was a man from a wealthy family, however, due to unfortunate events had a reversal of fortune. He was left with just enough funds to live on. Intrigued and fascinated by Dupin’s intelligence and imagination, he thought it a good idea to share his home with the gentleman. The two men retreated and withdrew from society. By mutual agreement, they decided to only come out under the cloak of darkness. On one such night, while walking his friend suddenly blurted out “He is a very little fellow, that’s true, and would do better for the theatre des varieties.” The other man unknowingly responds,” There can be no doubt of that”, not realizing Dupin had just responded to his unvoiced thought. Realization that Dupin had just predicted his thoughts led to astonishment. The man asked how Dupin knew what he was thinking. Dupin proceeded to explain to him how he had traced his line of thought back to a single event that had occurred fifteen minutes earlier. The man was astonished by Dupin’s powers of observation. Soon after this event, the man and Dupin were reading the newspaper and happened upon an article concerning a gruesome murder case. The victims were badly mutilated and dismembered. Madame Lespanye and Mademoiselle Camille Lespanye, were brutally murdered. One victim was shoved up a chimney stack and the other was beheaded. The killer escaped with no obvious means of exit. Witnesses heard the screams of the victims, but were unable to identify the words of a Frenchman or the indistinct shriek or voice of a foreigner. The case proved impossible to solve