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Mustufa Jafry
The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe is widely regarded as the first
detective story. The short story revolves around the characters of a brilliant man named Dupin
and his friend, the unnamed narrator, in their attempt to solve the mystery of the murder at the
Rue Morgue. Through the use of his narrative and the numerous rhetorical techniques within it,
Poe, utilizing the police and the narrator are stand ins for the reader, shows how there is a
fundamental difference between the reader and the detective, and explains how this difference
stems from their respective methods of investigation. Poe then goes onto using these parameters
to end on a lighter note by describing how there is a potential for the systems issues to be
rectified, and his ending illogical explanation of the crime reflects a societal wide change in
thinking.
Utilizing parallel structure and strong diction, Poe details how the narrator and the police
are the stands in for the reader in the story, and how there is a fundamental difference between
the reader and the detective. During Dupins explanation of how the police did not investigate
correctly, the narrator describes how [he himself] seemed to be on the verge of
comprehension without power to comprehend rationalizing that men sometimes are on the
brink of remembrance without being able toremember (Poe 68). The parallel structure in this
statement of the confusion of the narrator and the police compared to the confusion of men
details how the narrator and the police are supposed to represent society in the story. Just as
normal people are often unable to remember, the narrator and the police are similarly unable to
understand what occurred at the crime scene, even with all the facts presented in front of them.
The narrator and the police are therefore just as vulnerable to making mistakes as any of the
readers. Dupin however, Poe goes onto explain, is not like the reader. During the introduction of

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Dupins character, the narrator describes how Dupin was initially a man of wealth but due to
unfortunate events he lost almost all of his resources, leading him to live a life of rigorous
economy and to ignore the worlds superfluities (Poe 45). The use of strong diction in this
statement with words like rigorous and superfluous detail just how different Dupin is from the
reader. Unlike the narrator and the police, who symbolize the reader, Dupin has gives up all the
distractions in his life, focusing only on his books. By calling the pleasures in life superfluous,
Dupin steps away from the worldly pleasures which make up normal peoples lives. This
shedding of superfluities for a rigorous economy then embody Dupins fundamental difference
from the reader; only when he gives up the distractions in life that normal people are absorbed in
does Dupin truly become the detective. Through the use of parallel structure and strong diction
Poe shows how the reader is represented by the police and the narrator, and how there is a
fundamental difference between the reader and the detective.
Furthering upon the concept of differences between the reader and the detective, Poe uses
juxtaposition to elucidate that the Victorian justice systems inability to investigate correctly is
because of the assumptions they make while investigating. While discussing the polices initial
examination of the crime scene, the narrator described how the police soon after quickly
arrested and imprisoned Adolphe Le Bon, the bank clerk who accompanied Madam
LEspanaye home, even though nothing appeared to criminate him (Poe 57). The juxtaposition
in this statement of the police having no evidence against Le Bon and his subsequent arrest and
imprisonment detail the extent to which the polices stereotypes affect the quality of their
investigation. Despite the fact that all the evidence in the crime scene pointed against Le Bon,
the police immediately assumed that he was the criminal. The police were so influenced by their
bias of trying to find a perpetrator whom they could arrest that they put aside all the evidence and

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arrested Le Bon. Similarly, this arrest was also fueled by the polices bias against lower class
people. Based on the lack of evidence, the police could have just as easily charged the head
banker, Jules Mignaud, who withdrew the money for Madam LEspanaye, since he had both
information of the withdrawal and the incentive of getting money back for his bank. However
since the head banker was of a higher social class the police assumed that he would never
commit such a crime, since according to Victorian stereotypes crime was only committed by
people from a lower class. Further cementing this concept that the polices stereotypes prevent it
from conducting a proper investigation, Poe explains just why these stereotypes hinder the
investigation. During his account of the polices errors, Dupin describes how the reason the
police are unable to understand the crime is because they impair [their] vision by holding the
object too close seeing one or two points with unusual clearness but losing sight of the
matter as a whole (Poe 58). The juxtaposition in this statement between the police examining
closely and the subsequent effect of less clarity details why the stereotypes held by the police
affect their investigation. The police focus too greatly on finding any piece of evidence which
points to a potential suspect, leading them to lose sight of the crime as a whole. This bias of
looking for someone to blame for the crime then ends up hampering their investigating efforts.
As the police and narrator are epitomizing the readers in the story, this hindrance then paints the
picture of the larger concept that the Victorian justice system is inhibited from carrying out
justice due to its biases and acceptance of stereotypes. Through the utilization of juxtaposition,
Poe details to the reader that the reason the police in the story, and thereby the Victorian justice
system, are unable to investigate correctly is due to their prejudices impeding their
investigations.

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Having explained that the polices inability to investigate correctly because of their biases
is reflective of the Victorian justice system, Poe uses metaphors and juxtaposition to display how
Dupins ability to successfully determine the truth derives from his abandonment of the
prejudices common in society. Further along in his explanation about the polices errors, Dupin
describes how he shifted the question from the mode of egress to that of ingress (Poe 68). This
use of egress and ingress both literally and metaphorically exemplify that the detective has a
different way of thinking than the reader. Dupin does literally shift the question in the
investigation from how the criminal exited to how the criminal entered, thereby providing the
basis needed to conclude that something non-human had to have committed the crime. However
this juxtaposition also has a metaphorical meaning, explaining how societys biases cause it to
focus too much on the egress which represents the ending of the crime with regards to who is
the criminal and what their punishment will be. To truly understand crime, the metaphor clarifies,
society must look past its bias and examine the ingress or the entrance into the crime, which
represents the reasoning the criminal committed the crime. Until society learns to leave its
preconceptions and shift the way they investigate crime, rationalizes Poe, it will like the police
remain confused as to the true details of the crime. Adding to this explanation that Dupins
ability to understand the crime originates from his way of investigation, is Dupins further
criticism of the police. Dupin explains how coincidences are stumbling blocks for the people
who have been educated to know nothing of the notion of probability (Poe 68). This
juxtaposition of education and know nothing portrays how peoples close mindedness regarding
crime leads to difficulty in investigation. In a time period characterized by outright use of
stereotypes and guesses in order to arrest people, certain types of education and the power that
they came with were hurdles in a good investigation. By showing Dupin as distancing himself

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from these types of education and the close mindedness they lead to in society, Poe indicates to
the reader that the reason the detective is able to understand the crime is because he leaves
behind the assumptions and stereotypes common in society. This is further cemented by the
explanation that only through the objective notion of probability does Dupin discover the truth,
not through some flawed quest for finding the criminal. Through the utilization of metaphors and
juxtaposition, Poe details to the reader that the fundamental differences between the detective
and the reader are not due to some supernatural power but rather because of the detectives
ability to leave behind the close-minded thinking and stereotypes of society.
While initially detailing many criticisms of the Victorian justice system due to its
prejudices, Poe goes onto use vocabulary with strong connotation and diction in order to show
that the justice system does have the potential to ameliorate its issues. During Dupins further
criticism of the police, he describes how despite their vast parade of measures they are not
usually successful, and when they do happen to investigate correctly it is due to simple
diligence and activity (Poe 58). At first glance this statement seems to just disparage the police,
detailing how the repeatedly make errors because they do not know how to investigate correctly.
However, closer examination reveals that some of the specific words used in this statement do
have positive connotation. Words like vast parades of methods and diligence all have a good
connotation, describing people who work hard. Taking this into consideration, the statements
overall message changes. The police, according to this statement, are a force that work hard to
bring justice but are held back by their prejudices that blind them from the truth. They are not
ineffective due to some inherent problem but rather because of an outside influence. The upside
of this statement then becomes that the police force can be made to move past its difficulties, if it
recognizes and changes the factors holding it back. Furthering this point that the police has the

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potential to change and fix itself is Dupins description of Eugene Vidocq. Further along in his
conversation about the police, Dupin explains how Eugene Vidocq, the founder of the French
police force, was a persevering man but because of his lack of educated thought he was
unable to investigate correctly. Again at an initial glance, the diction used in this description
seems to deprecate Vidocq by stating that he was a bad investigator since he focused too closely
on specific aspects of the crime and missed the larger picture. This is in line Dupins previous
criticisms of the police and appears to further demonstrate his distaste for the police force. Yet
when the diction is further scrutinized, the connotation of the words turns out to positive. Words
like persevering seem to be describing a detective and a police force that has its faults not in its
fundamental beliefs but in its methods of investigation. This is further solidified by Dupins
clarification that the reason Vidocq was held back was because he lacked educated thought. This
implies that had Vidocq had this educated thought, he would have been a good investigator.
Educated thought, as shown previously, according to Dupin is the leaving of biases and
investigating based only on the crime scene. Using diction and vocabulary with strong
connotation, Poe describes the seemingly paradoxical idea that the police force despite its
numerous faults is not fundamentally flawed, and then goes onto clarify that if the police can
leave behind its prejudices, it has the ability to rectify its errors.
As Murders in the Rue Morgue was one of the first detective stories written it included
many aspects that differ from contemporary detective fiction. These differences, if examined
closely, can be used to better understand what the popular beliefs of the time were.
Contemporary detective fiction normally has all of its crimes, and investigation be believable by
the reader. Whenever a modern day detective in these pieces explains the crime at the end, the
crime is almost always explained in such a way that the viewer believes it could have occurred in

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the real world. For example, in every episode of the show Sherlock, the criminal uses everyday
technology and resources in order to commit the crime; there are no supernatural forces or any
unbelievable technologies from the future. Initially, Murders in the Rue Morgue seems to follow
the same formula. The crime scene and evidence all at first points to a normal criminal motivated
by money. Yet, the end of the story shatters the normality of the crime when Dupin explains that
it was all actually committed by an Ourang Outang captured from India and hidden away by a
sailor, until it escapes and uses the sailors shaving blade to kill the victims for no apparent
reason. This bizarre and almost unbelievable explanation of the crime is a stark difference from
the details of the crime in most contemporary detective fiction. Despite it creating an initial
situation that was serious and placed in the real world, the storys ending verges on being almost
comedic in the outrageousness of the explanation. This contrast between the fictional pieces
reflects the changes in thinking of the society and the author. Murders in the Rue Morgue points
to the societal belief that crime comes from a source outside of society itself, and is something
that is illogical. Just as the Ourang Outang is not human and his crime is illogical, the criminal is
not from within society and the reason he commits his crime makes no sense. In the same regard
then, modern day detective fiction reflects the societal belief that crime is not from outside of
society and that is part of the human condition. Every criminal in Sherlock is a human being and
all the crimes are believable and motivated by normal difficulties. The Murders in the Rue
Morgues shocking explanation for the crime, and its stark contrast with the logical and
believable explanations provided by contemporary detective fiction, reflects a larger change in
societal thinking, between the Victorian era and today, about crime and why it occurs.
Poes use of the characters of Dupin and the unnamed narrator in his detective story
allows him to provide critical commentary on the state of society in the Victorian period. The

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police and narrators flaw, which seem to be reflections of the flaws found in average people,
help to show that the narrator and the police represent the reader in the story. The character of
Dupin then through his amazing explanations of the many errors that the police have made and
his search for solely the truth, displays to the reader the fundamental difference between
themselves and him. However as Dupin begins to describe why the police made their mistakes, it
becomes clear that societys many prejudices and its close mindedness is what restrict it from
having Dupins detective abilities. Yet at the end, despite all of the polices failings, Dupin
explains that the police force and thereby the Victorian justice system can fix itself if it leaves
behind its biases. All of this is then further reinforced by the illogical explanation of the crime by
Dupin and how that reflects a larger change in societal wide thinking between the Victorian
period and the modern day. By the end of his story, Poe not only spawns a new genre of fiction
which continues to the current day but also gives a call of action to the reader to see and confront
the many issues that plague their justice system.
Revision Narrative
The main revision that I did to this essay was that I added a section at the end discussing
how the illogicalness of the crime is reflective of a change in societal wide thinking. I
additionally also clarified some of my arguments and removed some extraneous details that did
not add to my essay. The reason I added the last section was because I felt that there was a strong
contrast between the logicalness of the crime in Murders in the Rue Morgue and in modern day
detective fiction. Yet both types of fiction were seen as normal in their respective time periods,
indicating that there was a shift in thinking between then and now. I think this improves the
paper because it helps to provide a societal context for my argument.

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Works Cited
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue - Edgar Allan Poe." The Murders in the Rue Morgue - Edgar
Allan Poe. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 June 2014.