“The Man of the Crowd” and “The Purloined Letter” both are short stories written by famous American author Edgar Allan Poe and published in 1840 and 1844 respectively. In the first story the nameless narrator spent many hours to follow the unknown old man. This person demonstrated strange behavior and narrator figured out at the end that he is “the type and the genius of deep crime. He refuses to be alone. He is the man of the crowd” (Poe, The Man). The second story described on case that was solved by genius amateur detective C. Auguste Dupin. This character was created by Poe and appeared in two other stories “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt”. The “The Purloined Letter” is the last part of this series. It describes how Dupin easily found stolen letter after police couldn’t do it even after weeks of professionally done rummage.
Stories were written in different years and show how Poe’s views on literature changed through time and what methods he continued to use. Nameless narrator is one of the main similarities in both works. Auguste Dupin and his friend were mentioned in three stories, but Poe still did not give name to the detective’s partner. This understatement was a common practice for the 19th century literature. Authors did not give names to characters, streets, towns and did not even describe some processes. Like in Poe’s “The Man of the Crowd” and “The Purloined Letter”, readers can easily understand work and form opinion even with this understatement.
Absence of names and first-point narrative are almost the only similarities of these works. They refer to different genres and have different levels of informative value. In “The Man of the Crowd” reader does not know much both about the narrator and the main object of his interest. Poe did not say character’s name, occupation, martial status and other features. Author only mentioned the narrator had some kind of fever and liked to examine pedestrian. Poe told readers even less about the old man. Author described his behavior in details, but did not say anything about his past, future or reasons for such actions. At the end of the story reader does not know was the old man an ordinary psychopath or a supernatural being that represented a conception of “genius of deep crime”. It is possible to say that the old man went unread in this story.
“The Purloined Letter” also has many implied moments, but it is possible to guess what Poe did not mention. For example, author did not say anything about the letter’s content, but gave enough clues. Victim’s sex and the fact she “dared not call attention to the act, in the presence of the third personage who stood at her elbow” (Poe, The Purloined Letter) suggest the problem was in the adultery. The letter went unread, but in different way than the old man from “The Man of the Crowd”. Reader doesn’t know names of writer and addressee, as well as the document’s content, but gets enough information to understand its meaning. Poe did not write chief’s name, but said a lot about his occupation, traits and relations with main character. While people could not read the letter, it did not go unread.
Both stories show Poe’s pursuance of unity. In spite of Aristotelian’s conception, writer believed “a unified literary work is one in which every detail, with respect to both style and content, directly contributes to the creation of the total effect of the piece” (Enotes.com). “The Man of the Crowd” is referred to the Gothic, while “The Purloined Letter” is the representative of the detective fiction, which was started by Poe with his “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”. Last stories demonstrate the author went to a different genre, but clung to his beliefs. Poe believed literature works should not have obvious meaning. Author thought stories should focus on a single effect or event. In the “The Man” it was narrator’s interest to people’s behavior, which turned into a chase and revelation. “The Letter” was focused on Dupin’s cognitive abilities and idea that sometimes it is better to check an obvious theory, than search for hidden one.
Many experts wrote Poe criticized allegory, didacticism and preferred short stories to their longer analogues like novels. “The Man” and “The Letter” support these ideas. Both stories are short, but the author used literature tools wisely to focus on chosen effect and tell readers everything he wanted. Works do not have direct signs of didacticism. It is possible to say “The Letter” supports the thought “evil always will be punished” or “people should not steal”, but only partially. “The Man” does not have any signs of didacticism. The story describes narrator’s experience and reader should create own opinion about its meaning.
Selected short stories demonstrate Poe clung to his main ideas, but turned to a different, more realistic and practical genre. “The Man of the Crowd” looks more like a Gothic story with undercurrent mystical sense. Poe used this genre to appease the public taste. “The Purloined Letter” is a typical detective story. It does not have any hints on supernatural events, like it was in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” that was written earlier. This changes show author withdrew from mystical elements in his works because of own attitude, appearance of new literature preferences in society or other reasons.
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Man of the Crowd”. Poestories.com. 1845. 16 Feb. 2016.
---. “The Purloined Letter”. Poestories.com. 1845. 16 Feb. 2016.
“Poe, Edgar Allan (Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism)”. Enotes.com. n. d. 16 Feb. 2016.
