Edgar Allen Poe, Father of Modern Detective Fiction

928 Words2 Pages

E.A. Poe became the father of modern day detective stories by introducing Dupin in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" as the first detective to use analytical and imaginative reasoning to solve the mystery and will create a guideline for all detective stories to come. The word "detective" was not in existence until Poe's writings. Mysteries had existed but never such a story that used a "detector" or placed such emphasis upon analysis versus trial and error. The vivid painting of the scene of the crime as well as the crime itself was likewise never done in writings until Poe.

Poe was fascinated with puzzles, word games and secret codes. (Pos-Ho pg 1333) Poe expresses this fascination through his writings to dazzle his readers. Poe utilizes deductive reasoning in his stories to imitate a type of puzzle. This he was a master of and made his detective character that much more unique. David Van Leer comments on Poe's use of this reasoning in his essay "The World of the Dupin Tales" (pg 326) "Detection in Poe is less a kind of plot than a form of truth, less a way to tell a story than a means to know the world. The real interest in these stories is not who or what done it but what truth and world are and how they may be reconstructed and what will follow from that reconstruction."

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" again is unique in that the entire story is told backward from the normal story telling pattern. Everything is in the narrative to give the reader the outcome. Poe himself said "Where is the ingenuity of unraveling a web which you yourself have woven for the sole purpose of unraveling?" (Unger, Leonard. pg 420) With this attitude Poe gives the reader a feeling that the plots always seem to be impossible. The us...

... middle of paper ...

... character analysis of Dupin and the narrator.

Galloway, David. Short Story Criticism Vol. 1 essay. Detroit, Michigan. Gale Research Company, 1983. pg 406

Provides story analysis such as how Poe became the creator of detective fiction.

Pos-Ho. Critical survey of mystery and Detective Fiction. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Salem Press, 1988. pgs 1332-1337

Story analysis how deductive reasoning is played out.

Van Lerr, David. The World of the Dupin Tales essay from Selected Tales Oxford Worlds Classic. Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press, 1998

Gives complete character analysis of Dupin

Poe, Edgar Allen. Britannica Student Encyclopedia. 2004. Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service. http://www.britannica.com/ebi/articale?tocId=9276477.

Background and history of E.A Poe.

Show More
Related

  • The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

    1312 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ll 2004): 47-62. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Vol. 111. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 May 2014. .

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poe Figurative Language Essay

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edgar Allen Poe is known for his dark yet comedic approach toward the his theme of his stories. Likewise, Poe’s themes have gathered many fans due to his impression of reasoning in his stories. The author uses thinking and reasoning to portray the theme. Poe’s unique diction comprehends with the theme of the story. Poe has a brilliant way of taking gothic tales of mystery, and terror, and mixing them with variations of a romantic tale by shifting emphasis from, surface suspense and plot pattern to his symbolic play in language and various meanings of words.

    Read More

  • Revenge in The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated literary authors of all time, known for writing very suspenseful, dramatic short stories and a poet; is considered as being a part of the American Romantic Movement, and a lesser known opinion is he is regarded as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Most recognized for his mystery and macabre, a journey into the dark, ghastly stories of death, deception and revenge is what makes up his reputation. The short story under analysis is a part of his latter works; “The Cask of Amontillado”, a story of revenge takes readers into the mind of the murderer.

    Read More

  • Conformity and Rebellion in Two Kinds, by Amy Tan and The Ones Who Walk Away

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Short Stories." Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 127. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2010. 125-388. Literature Criticism Online. Gale. VALE - Mercer County Community College. 28 February 2014

    Read More

  • Cornell Woolrich Psychology Essay

    1774 Words  | 4 Pages

    Woolrich reinforced the detective fictions of yesterday, introducing to the American audience new detectives, who not only wheels a gun but also uses their knowledge of psychoanalysis to catch the perpetrator and solve the crime. Though Woolrich extends his knowledge of the human mind, he, just like MacDonald, Chandler and Hammett gives reference to 18th-century authors which include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe.

    Read More

  • The American Dream In F. Scott Fitzgerald's Winter Dreams

    1955 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pike, Gerald. “Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Short Fiction Writers.” Short Story Criticism. Ed. Thomas Votteler. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale Research International Limited, 1990. 90. Print.

    Read More

  • Little Red Riding Hood by Bill Delaney

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    Studies In Short Fiction 18.1 (1981): 65. Literary Reference Center. Web. The Web. The Web.

    Read More

  • Comparing Where Are you going, Where Have You Been and Hills Like White Elephants

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Joseph Palmisano. Vol.

    Read More

  • Compare The Speckled Band, The Red Headed League and Silver Blaze as Examples of Detective Fiction

    1436 Words  | 3 Pages

    The birth of classic detective fiction was originated just in the mid nineteenth century, and was producing its own genre. Classical detective fiction follows a set of rules called the ‘Ten commandments of detective fiction’. The genre is so popular it can bee seen by the number of sales in any good book stores. Many of these books have been created a long time ago and there is still a demand for these types of books. The popularity is still ongoing because it provides constant entertainment, and also the reader can also have a role of detective trying to solve the crime/case committed. Classical detective fiction has a formula, the detective story starts with a seemingly irresolvable mystery, typically a murder, features the astute, often unconventional detective, a wrongly accused suspect to whom the circumstantial evidence points, and concludes with a startling or unexpected solution to the mystery, during which the detective explains how he or she solved the mystery. Formula that includes certain elements such as, a closed location to keep the number of suspects down, red hearings spread around the stories to keep the reader entertained yet interacted.

    Read More

  • The Murders In The Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe

    1602 Words  | 4 Pages

    The most entertaining part of the story was that Dupin's crazy deduction was accurate and correct. The French sailor had been the owner of an Ourang Outang that had hurled the older woman out a window, and the daughter up a chimney. Poe's new writing style at the time allowed readers to view mystery stories from a different perspective, that of the detective. His writing techniques and story plot make "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" an enjoyable and worthwhile piece of work.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Murders At The Rue Morgue And The Tell-Tale Heart

    525 Words  | 2 Pages

    In both of Edgar Allan Poe’s writings, “The Murders at the Rue Morgue” and “The Tell Tale Heart” as the reader I am able to identify possible roles of crime and comfort in each piece. As we discussed in lecture, crime can be breaking the law, an act against another that is hurtful and against human morals, punishable by law, victimizing and much more. In each reading we find our self deeply immersed in the story this gives me the reader a clearer understanding into each tragedy by having the opportunity to clearly define the role of crime and comfort in each reading.

    Read More

  • Use Of Complex Literary Devices In Edgar Allan Poe's The Purloined Letter

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “The Purloined Letter,” Edgar Allan Poe’s use of complex literary devices reveals his unique writing style. These literary devices include: allusions, metaphors, irony, foreshadowing events, and a detailed exposition. In the very beginning of the short story, Poe provides the reader with information about the setting and timing of the story. This aids the reader to clearly identify what exactly takes place. Poe, known perhaps more for his grotesque and gothic short stories, wrote detective and mystery short stories as well. Within one of his most famous detective short stories, “The Purloined Letter,” Poe illustrates the theme of logic and cleverness to prove the essential nature of intelligence and detail.

    Read More

  • Exploring Irony in Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado'

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    When looking for a story full of irony, suspense, mystery readers can always turn to basically any story written by the “father of the detective stories”, Edgar Allan Poe (Work Cited – Biography website). In what is considered his most perfect short story of all, “The Cask of Amontillado” Poe integrates irony even in the tiniest aspects if the entire story (Work Cite – Cliff Notes). For the reader to completely understand Poe’s creepy, perfectionist style they should know some background on Poe himself. Starting from a young age Poe experienced multiple tragic events that drastically changed not only his life, but his outlook on life (Work cited – biography). With so many negative things surrounding Poe it is no

    Read More

  • Women as Objects in A Woman on a Roof

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    Allen, Orphia J., Short Story Criticism. Vol 16. Ed. Thomas Vottler. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, Co., 1990.

    Read More

  • The Sociological Criticism of Alice Walker

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    " Studies in Short Fiction 33.2 (Spring 1996): 171-184. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Joseph Palmisano.

    Read More

More about Edgar Allen Poe, Father of Modern Detective Fiction

Open Document