Edgar Allen Poe is well-known for his tales of Gothic horror, often featuring themes of immolation, insanity, and the macabre. But Poe's skills spread far beyond "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Fall of the House of Usher," both excellent works in their own right. The American author penned quality works as a literary critic, a masterful poet, and an original storyteller.
It is in this latter respect that Poe created C. Auguste Dupin. Often credited as the "first-ever fictional detective," Dupin is an analytical and frightfully perceptive amateur private investigator. He earns the "detective" distinction if not in title than in his process. With his three short stories featuring Dupin, Poe is often heralded as the inventor of detective fiction and the modern mystery.
Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" — The First Appearance of C. Auguste Dupin
In 1841, Edgar Allan Poe published "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." He would refer to this short story as a " tale of ratiocination "; others would call it a brilliant new genre of fiction — the detective story.
Poe's so-called "detective" — in reality an unemployed philosopher with keen gifts of observation and rational assumption — C. Auguste Dupin earns his private investigator status through sheer curiosity. As a member of a once wealthy family that "by a variety of untoward events" has lost its wealth and, thus, its status, Dupin (though certainly not destitute) retreats from Parisian society. He hides away, collecting rare books, until a chance meeting with the unnamed narrator starts a firm friendship.
Together, the two spend most their time reading or analyzing the world they have shut out. When a newspaper informs him of the unsolved murders of Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter, for which an acquaintance of Dupin has been imprisoned, Dupin takes interest. He offers his services to the local police prefect.
Dupin's scrutinizing review of witness accounts and of the crime scene itself unlocks the details necessary to solve the crime. He even lures and captures the killer (or, rather, the killer's owner, since the killer is an "ourang-outang").
Poe's "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" — The Second Appearance of C. Auguste Dupin
With the success of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," C. Auguste Dupin was destined to return. In his 1842 short story, "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt," however, Poe focuses almost entirely on Dupin's deductive reasoning, so much so that the solving of the murder loses all its importance.
The setting once again Paris, "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" consists of Dupin's reading of various newspaper articles pertaining to the murder of a young perfume saleswoman, Marie Rogêt. Marie's body is found floating in a river, and it is assumed by many that she was overcome by a murderous gang.
Upon reading the newspapers articles, Dupin deduces the truth of the crime and discerns and explains to the unnamed narrator the falseness of particular theories and witness statements. In doing so, he often makes assumptions the reader must accept as learned but that are often nearly as absurd as those of the police officers and journalists he is prone to criticize. In the end, Dupin constructs the method of discovering Marie's killer, although the killer himself is not captured within the confines of Poe's tale.
Poe's "The Purloined Letter" — The Final Appearance of C. Auguste Dupin
Monsieur Dupin would return one more time in Poe's 1844 short story, "The Purloined Letter." In this tale, Poe again takes a novel approach to Dupin. In "The Purloined Letter," Dupin is essentially hired for his services. Once again, the unnamed narrator serves as the ear to Dupin's analytical explanations.
But there are no murders in "The Purloined Letter." Furthermore, the culprit of the crime, the thief of a letter of great importance, is known to all. To simplify things more, the location where the letter has been concealed is also known. Dupin's sole quest is to find where the letter is hidden and secure it before its contents can be used for blackmail purposes.
By merely placing himself in the shoes (and mind) of the crafty criminal, Dupin speedily surmises that the letter must be hidden in plain sight — hidden in such a way that intense scrutiny, such as that employed by the police, would cause the searcher to overlook or disregard the letter. Gaining entry into the blackmailer's home under false pretenses, Dupin spots the letter and replaces it with a fake. He returns it the prefect for a large sum.
The Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe and the Origins of Detective Fiction
With "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt," and "The Purloined Letter," Poe kicked off one of the most popular and enduring of all fiction genres — detective fiction/crime novels. Sure, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes may be the most famous fictional "detective," but C. Auguste Dupin will forever have the honorary distinction of being the first.
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Jason Parent - Jason Parent earned his Bachelor's Degree in English in 2000 and his Juris Doctorate in 2006. He currently works as an attorney with a ...
