The extract titled Nil sapientiae odiosius acumine nimio. – Seneca by Edgar Allan Poe comes from a story titled The Purloined Letter, which Poe published in 1845. The section from which the paragraph comes from is the opening paragraph of the story. Poe’s detective story features some secrets about murders and the characters act as if they are suspicious of each other and they seek to maintain secrecy.
The narrator of the story narrates under a mysterious name or identity. The character does not mention their name or role in reference to the incidence occurring in the passage. He further paints the picture of a gloomy and dark evening, “just after dark, one gusty evening” (Poe). Since ancient days, many people associate darkness with secrecy and the implication of “just after dark” shows the commencement of secrecy or lack of adequate transparency.
The narrator states, “I was enjoyingluxury of meditation and meerschaum” (Poe). In many cases when people are meditating, they maintain secrecy. They choose not to tell anyone of their thoughts or the issues for which they are meditating. Meerschaum, which in many cases refers to a pipe made of meerschaum, shows an absolute state of secrecy. When someone is using the meerschaum, they are usually calm, quiet and composed meaning that they give themselves ample time to fulfil their issues in secrecy.
The narrator also shows that his friend, C. Auguste Dupin was engaged in other things leaving- books. The narrator states that he and his neighbor had maintained a profound silence for almost one year. The narrator states that they put on the faces of people who were in unity and were merely observing the curling eddies which oppress the smoke. The curling eddies are seen as distracting or disrupting the atmosphere of the chamber.
The narrator also states that he deliberately maintained secrecy with other people. He states that he was silently and mentally discussing certain topics that he had been thinking about for the rest part of the evening. Although he mentions the reasons for which and a friend agreed to maintain secrecy, they still maintained the secrecy and closeness that saw them agree to keep secrets about their friendship.
The narrator was shocked when contrary to his expectations, the door to their apartment was thrown open and their old acquaintance t, Monsieur G thrown inside. This shows that the narrator and his friend Dupin wanted to maintain their secrecy over the issue at Rue Morgue. Moreover, coincident that the narrator was thinking about issues that had dominated the evening when the door was opened and Monsieur thrown inside had been too much. Monsieur was their friend and a likely accomplice in the crimes that the narrator and Dupin had committed.
The theme of the story enhances the issues of secrecy because the reason for which Monsiur had come to where the narrator and Dupin were was to obtain some information from Dupin. The maintenance of secrecy pushes the characters to have a high level of mistrust and suspicion. As such, the theme of secrecy in passage is highly evident and. Besides the two main characters (the narrator an Mr. Dupin maintaining secrets from each other, the third character introduces more mistrust since he is concerned or interested with one of the original characters.
References
Poe Edgar Allan (1845) The Purloined Letter: Nil sapientiae odiosius acumine nimio. - Seneca.
