The Gold Bug, While Influential on Other Writers, is Not a Typical Edgar Allen Poe Story.
I. Poe has been called the “father of the detective story.”
A. This is primarily for his C. Auguste Dupin stories
B. “The Gold Bug” is a detective story, but with a different protagonist.
II “The Gold Bug” is considered as being influential upon the modern day treasure story.
A. Most treasure stories of the time were about treasure seekers.
“The Gold Bug” is about a treasure finder.
III Some elements in “The Gold Bug” are common to many Poe writings.
A. It follows a successful series he wrote on Cryptography.
B. There are references to alchemy.
IV It is different in some ways from Poe’s other work.
A. It is not gothic and dark.
B. The characters are more developed.
C. It has a cheerful tone and a happy ending.
Poe is considered the “father of the detective story.” primarily for his C. Auguste Dupin stories. “The Gold Bug” is another detective story, but it has a different protagonist, Mr. William Legrand. A formerly wealthy man fallen upon bad circumstances who now lives on Sullivan’s Island near Charleston, South Carolina. “The Gold Bug” has some elements common to much of Poe’s other work, however it differs in tone and other elements. It was popular and influential when first published and has influenced many other writers since then.
Edgar Allen Poe began writing what we would now call “Detective Stories” in 1841 with a protagonist named C. Auguste Dupin. The Dupin series first appeared in 1841 with “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” does not make a single appearance in “The Gold Bug”. There is more reference to Dupin in Doyle’s “A Study in Scarlet” published in 1887, when Homes refers to Dupin as a very inferior fellow. .
Most treasure stories of the time such as the “Gold Diggers”(1840) by Seba Smith. and Washington Irving’s “The Money Diggers” were about treasure seekers “The Gold Bug”is about a treasure finder. This element added to the stories popularity. It is considered as being influential upon the style of the modern day treasure story as well. Many later treasure stories written by other authors contain elements of “The Gold Bug”.
It played upon some of the popular public interests of the time in cryptography. It followed some successful articles Poe had published on cryptography. Realizing the public was interested in the subject, he incorporated it into a story. Poe’s established reputation as an expert in cryptography helped it win a 1843 writing contest sponsored by the “Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper” who published it in installments. There are the references to alchemy, which are typical in Poe’s writings. . Poe’s wit, irony and humor are all there. However it differs in some other ways from much of Poe’s work.
It is not what we would consider a typical Poe story. There is no dark brooding House of Usher; and no raven nothing typically Gothic about it at all. The characters are more developed. The action and dialog carry most of the story. The character of Jupiter, or Jup, while now seen as a discriminatory depiction was actually progressive for the time. He was free, manumitted by Legrand and was a full speaking character in the story. This was unusual in the Antebellum South. Perhaps the way it differs the most however, is in the characters and the tone of the work. They are more objective and the general tone is more cheerful and lighthearted than much of his other work. . Perhaps the greatest difference however is, it has a happy ending.
Austin, H. (2006, 4 2). Preface, The Gold Bug and The Black Cat. Retrieved 4 15, 2012, from The Edgar Allen Poe Society: http://www.eapoe.org/papers/misc1851/ha189901.htm
Not Bored, B. (2005, 2). Poe's "The Gold Bug". Retrieved 4 15, 2012, from Not Bored: http://www.notbored.org/gold-bug.html
Poe, E. A. (n.d.). The Gold Bug. Retrieved 4 15, 2012, from University of Virginia: http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=PoeGold.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1
Reference.Com. (2012). C. Auguste Dupin. Retrieved 4 15, 2012, from Reference.Com: http://www.reference.com/browse/auguste-dupin%26
Spark Notes. (n.d.). Poe's Short Stories. Retrieved from Spark Notes: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/context.html
St. Armand, B. L. (1971, 6). Poe’s “Sober Mystification”:. Retrieved 4 15, 2012, from EAPoe: http://www.eapoe.org/pstudies/ps1970/p1971101.htm
The Literature Network. (2012). Poe. Retrieved 4 16, 2012, from The Literature Network: http://www.online-literature.com/poe/
