Type: Literary Analysis
Pages: 8 | Words: 2305
Reading Time: 10 Minutes

The main personality of the short story written by Edgar Allan Poe tells the story of the unnamed author. Naturally, everything that is depicted in the story narrates that the Flaneur, who acts as the main character of the story, possesses all the features which are inherent in the genuine detective.

The story begins when the unnamed ill-affected personality sits in a café somewhere in London. When he sees the crown which assembled outside the window, he began to realize the density of the society, which surrounds him. He began to classify the people that he sees in different groups according to a specific criterion. With the advent of the evening, he has entirely focused his attention on the old, decrepit man who has several peculiar traits, including his appearance and ragged clothes. Somehow, this man seemes to be considered suspicious to the mainly unnamed character of the story and the narrator ultimately resolves to leave the café and to follow this man who possessed such peculiar characteristics and who has caused his suspicions.

The narrator resolves to track him down and commences to follow him. The old suspect goes to the very outskirts of London, and then attends the bazaars and small, cozy shops; then the suspect moves to the shanty towns of London. Finally, he comes back to the hub of the rich and filthy London and flaneur makes a conclusion that the suspect is in fact an ingrained and inscrutable criminal who was able to detect the trail and was not able to get assimilated with the crowd or to leave this crowd.

As far as the features which are inherent in the genuine and true detective are concerned, the main character of the narration does seem to possess all the features that are inherent in the true detective, like Sherlock Holmes.

The person did seem to be peculiar for the narrator, due to the fact that he was the only person who could not have been classified according to the categorization which had been elaborated by the narrator. Edgar Allan Poe purports that the old, suspicious decrepit man is a reflection of the alter ego of the narrator, this old man may merely serve as a secret side of the narrator, although this text is not evident to the narrator himself. His endeavors to detect the criminal may be viewed as his attempts to get isolated from the old, haunted memories of the crime, perpetrated by him or some of his relatives.

The peculiarity of the text of the short story is that the ultimate ending is not disclosed by the author and the target audience is subject to the discretion of the target audience and the reader is himself entitled to contrive how the story might have ended.

Another indicator that signifies that the main character of the story is indeed viewed as a professional detective is the fact that at the very beginning of the story, the main character who remains unnamed to the very end of it, started to categorize the types of the people in accordance with his personal categorization and classification. While tracking down the suspicious man, the narrator became capable of finding out the details and peculiarities of the man who is haunted by him and to assemble all the required information to track him down effectively and quickly.

To illustrate, the main character was able to detect the ear sticks, and therefore the man rightfully makes a conclusion that the person is employed as a clerk or a secretary , or a servant in a store. Later in the further works of Edgar Allan Poe, these traits are inherent in the prominent and outstanding detective and investigator Auguste Dupin. In other words, the author bears the audience to the message that if a person deviates from society by means of possessing specific characteristics and the innate ability to detect and identify a specific features in the ambiance, this man can surely become a professional investigator. The nature of the narrator of the story is of a considerably contradictory nature, he comprises avarice, coolness, malice, and triumphs with merriment and other traits, which pertain to the special human nature.

Detective Feature of the Flaneur on the Basis of the Woks of Edgar Allan Poe

A marvelous, short but extremely thoughtful provoking story composed by an outstanding writer Edgar Allan Poe is a masterpiece of modern literature. The story first appeared in 1926. Although the length of the story does not allow us to ponder over the aspects thereto too long, it makes the target of the audience to fall into the reveries.

It is well-known fact that the nature of human being is a completely undiscovered area. The story The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Allan Poe proves this fundamental postulate of psychology. Skillfully, this outstanding United States fiction writer with global acknowledgement contrives to convey the transformations that happens with the old inventor during his life. The main idea of the novel is that when the endeavors and efforts of human being are not rewarded, or at least acknowledged accordingly, this individual is likely to fall into delirium and continue his fruitless struggle against the merciless society, as it happened to the narrator of the story, the old inventor and the father of the homosexual, young, promising broker agent. These revolutionaries are the irreconcilable’s foes of the traditional values of the community, and they, always unsuccessfully and hopelessly continue their campaign against the society, aspiring to prove their greatness, ingenuity and brilliance. Undisputedly, it is a good feature of the character. However, the price of their aspirations and endeavors is always a well-being and happiness of their relatives and close friends, as it happened with the son of the main character of the story, Graham, who was brought up without mother’s care, because she died prematurely, and without his dad’s support and supervision, because his dead turned out to be a zealous and fanatic inventor, obsessed with anything but his inventions.

The first impression created by the main character of the story is normal, and nothing in the first lines of the story purports that the eloquent narrator seriously suffers from mental disorder and some sort of incurable mania that causes problems to his surroundings. The old man is merely irritated by the loose of all moral values by his grandchildren and their peers. The youth is no longer willing to listen to the stories about the war, the conquest of space and about the United States in general. On the contrary, their bookshelves are full of stories about the stars. Realizing, that his values are no longer appreciated by the upcoming progenies, the old man admits that he is ‘glad to be gone’.

However, while proceeding with reading it becomes more and more evident that the main character is in a desperate need of a serious psychological examination. Firstly, he has virtually stolen the car that belonged to his relative and he hardly believes that the car will be returned. Then, he addresses several notes to his biographer – a deed that is not peculiar even for the greatest people, like the presidents, the war veterans and other outstanding personalities. It is a well-established fact that a work of the biographer begins when the object has already passed away. In other words, it is the prerogative of the society to decide whether the person who has committed something outstanding really deserves to be recorded by his own biographer. In our case the main character of the story has decided that all his exploits will be recorded by the biographer, that is why he permanently leaves notes for his future biographer, explaining either the details of his new inventions or their progressiveness and the innovative nature.

The second reason indicating that the main character of the story became a lunatic is his deeds. He is fervently and dedicatedly obsessed with the idea that he is in fact one of the greatest inventors of the entire human civilization and he deliberately highlights and elevates the nature of his inventions. This man was fired by Kodak for his ‘pointing out to the flaws’ of the output of the company. I assume that it is natural and understandable that a simple engineer, with an ordinary Ph.D. from an ordinary University cannot improve the manufacturing process of such an industrial giant substantially. He was dismissed allegedly for his incompetence, while the main character considered his dismissal as wrongful and unjustified.

The repercussions of the lack of public acknowledgement are mostly reflected by the author in the relationship between the narrator and his son Graham. Graham assumed that his father was dead, because scientific explorations diverted him from his family for four long years. And at the point when he finally appeared before his son, the narrator behaves excessively oddly. He is not stupefied by the fact that his son is of untraditional sexual orientation, although an ordinary daddy must be shocked and outraged. He simply admits this fact and does not argue it. However, having invited his son to the restaurant, he does not ask him about his problems and emotions. He merely ridicules Graham’s profession, who is a brokerage agent, which is known to be among the most well-paid and prestigious professions in the United States of America. Moreover, he does not ask his son about the reasons, which compelled him to transform to a homosexual person. The only thing he is interested in is his invention – the bicycle with a perpetual engine. The narrator envisions ‘a line of bicycles’ and teams of lawyers and engineers. Then, the dad starts to offer his son illogical things: he offers Graham to quit his job and to join his ill promising venture. The culmination of the scene is when the dad rents a room for $ 600 for a day to ‘conceal industrial secrets’ and a weeping Graham confesses that he has ever ‘wanted a father’.

Overall, it is evident that the author wanted to convey a very important message to both the society and the individuals, which compose this society. Obviously, he advocates the idea that each person, however talented and ingenious he may consider he is, has his own limits. When these limits are transcended, nothing positive can happen and can be expected.

Summary

The features of the true detectives in the world of the works of Edgar Allan Poe may be classified into the following groups:

Compassionate – is one of the most important characteristics of a private detective. A PI will need to be inquisitive in order to get information and of course compassionate to the people they may have to talk to. Private detectives have to be compassionate to situations of their clients and understand that their clients may be distraught about the different situations that they find themselves needing help with.

Determined – you may be a good detective, if you have a strong sense of determination to deliver information when you said that you would and to complete each and every task. PI’s have to be able to deliver results for their clients; their reputation and business depends on it. So, they have to be determined to finish the work and not to give up even when they may hit a bump in the road or a dead end.

Self-starter – you may have a great career ahead of you as a private detective, if you can take any directions and then create an entire project out of it or if you can work alone for a long period of time.

Tact – PI needs to be tactful and diplomatic and know how to communicate with people effectively and how to say things in a non-threatening manner.

Outgoing – being outgoing may help private detectives a lot, because they usually have to ask different people a lot of questions. A shy person may not be as willing to go out of his comfort zone to obtain the information which he is looking for by asking the appropriate amount of questions.

Overall, it can be inferred that the main personality of the Edgar Allan Poe stories possesses all the characteristics that are inherent in the true detective and provides that he gets licensed; he can easily start his own practice and start to attract clients and even establish his office.

First and foremost, he has a sense of control. The general public is likely to summon private investigators when they encounter daily problems which can’t be solved by ordinary means and when the help of the outside professional detective is required. In particular, such a person must be capable of persuading his client that his issue will be solved, if he decided to ask for help the private investigator, like Flaneour in the stories of Allan Poe. The person must feel comfortable that their private order will be completed timely and according to the customers’ instructions and the cooperation is sensed by the detective and by the client.

The personal investigator must be capable of retaining confidential information that is disclosed to him by the client while acting in his official capacity, because numerous issues of confidential and private nature are revealed to him during the exercise of his functions. The issue of bonding must be raised before the process of investigation begins and the investigator must assume the responsibility for the disclosure of such information.

The detective must be self-disciplined. In the present case, the full set of the principles purports that the person is a self-disciplined one. This feature purports that the detective must assume legally and ethically permissible decisions, and he must act in full conformity with the mandatory principles of the law. The obedience of such principles is guaranteed by the ability to self-disciple oneself.

Generally, I am strongly convinced that Flaneur possesses all the characteristics that are inherent in the genuine detective.

You may be interested:

Copy-pasting equals plagiarizing!

Mind that anyone can use our samples, which may result in plagiarism. Want to maintain academic integrity? Order a tailored paper from our experts.

Get my custom paper
3 hours
the shortest deadline
100%
original, no AI
300 words
1 page = 300 words
This is a sample essay that should not be submitted as an actual assignment
Need an essay with no plagiarism?
Grab your 15% discount
with code: writers15
Related essays
1 (888) 456 - 4855