The Purloined Letter

“‘If it is any point requiring reflection,’ observed Dupin, as he forebore to enkindle the wick, ‘we shall examine it to better purpose in the dark.’”

This quotation not only sets the stage for darkness’s symbolism throughout the text but also gives insight into Dupin’s methods of reasoning and investigation. Essentially, what seems the most obvious or logical solution is rarely so, just as Dupin’s remark upends the conventional association of light with knowledge.

“‘That is another of your odd notions,’ said the Prefect, who had a fashion of calling every thing ‘odd’ that was beyond his comprehension, and thus lived amid an absolute legion of ‘oddities.’”

This is the very first quotation from the prefect, and it foreshadows the precise reason why he is unable to solve the crime. He dismisses as irrelevant anything beyond his comprehension (which, according to the narrator, is rather limited) and therefore does not grasp the relationship between Perception and Reality.

“‘Perhaps it is the very simplicity of the thing which puts you at fault,’ said my friend.”

Referring to the prefect’s puzzlement over what appears to be a very simple case, Dupin suggests that the prefect’s approach to solving it may be wrong. The notion of the case being too simple also foreshadows the hiding of the letter in plain sight.

“Well, I may venture so far as to say that the paper gives its holder a certain power in a certain quarter where such power is immensely valuable.”

This quote by the prefect introduces The Nature and Exercise of Power in connection with the letter. Over the course of the story, each character who holds the letter does in fact wield a certain type of power.

“‘Here, then,’ said Dupin to me, ‘you have precisely what you demand to make the ascendancy complete—the robber’s knowledge of the loser’s knowledge of the robber.’”

Dupin, emphasizes that for the minister’s blackmail to succeed, the queen must know that he is the one who stole the letter. When Dupin recovers the letter from the minister, he ensures that he too will eventually recognize who took it, as this knowledge is necessary to securing Dupin’s revenge.

“‘It is clear,’ said I, ‘as you observe, that the letter is still in the possession of the minister, since it is this possession, and not any employment of the letter, which bestows the power. With the employment the power departs.’”

This quotation by the narrator is essential to the story’s depiction of power; it is the threat of disclosing the letter’s contents that gives the minister leverage. Notably, while the prefect does describe the contents of the letter, the narrator chooses to omit his description, reinforcing the idea that its particulars are unimportant.

“‘Not altogether a fool,’ said G., ‘but then he’s a poet, which I take to be only one remove from a fool.’”

Here is one of the main problems with the prefect’s approach to the case. Knowing Minister D—— is a poet, he believes him to be a fool; he fails to comprehend that being a poet is actually an advantage in this case, as it allows the minister to understand the role that perspective plays in discerning the truth.

“‘The measures, then,’ he continued, ‘were good in their kind, and well executed; their defect lay in their being inapplicable to the case, and to the man.’”

Dupin points out that, in acting precisely as he was trained, the prefect failed in truly understanding how the minister reasons and therefore underestimated his abilities. He suggests elsewhere that the fundamental misconception is the police’s belief that their “principles” are universally applicable rather than subject to context.

“When I wish to find out how wise, or how stupid, or how good, or how wicked is any one, or what are his thoughts at the moment, I fashion the expression of my face, as accurately as possible, in accordance with the expression of his, and then wait to see what thoughts or sentiments arise in my mind or heart, as if to match or correspond with the expression.”

In describing the methods of the schoolboy, Dupin is also describing his own methods of investigation. He is emphasizing the importance of understanding one’s opponent in order to “beat” him.

“‘For its practical value it depends upon this,’ replied Dupin; ‘and the Prefect and his cohort fail so frequently, first, by default of this identification, and secondly, by ill-admeasurement, or rather through non-admeasurement, of the intellect with which they are engaged. They consider only their own ideas of ingenuity; and, in searching for anything hidden, advert only to the modes in which they would have hidden it.’”

Dupin explicitly states that by failing to identify with the minster, the prefect failed in his search. The police’s methodology often works, Dupin suggests, but this is because it reflects a particularly common way of thinking, not because it embodies universal truths.

“You are mistaken; I know him well; he is both. As poet and mathematician, he would reason well; as mere mathematician, he could not have reasoned at all, and thus would have been at the mercy of the Prefect.”

In this statement, Dupin reveals that he knows the minister well, which facilitates his ability to relate to him. He also explains that while the minister is in fact a poet, he is also a mathematician. If he were simply one or the other, he would not have been able to evade the police.

“These, like the over-largely lettered signs and placards of the street, escape observation by dint of being excessively obvious [… The Prefect] never once thought it probable, or possible, that the Minister had deposited the letter immediately beneath the nose of the whole world, by way of best preventing any portion of that world from perceiving it.”

Dupin explains the concept of “hidden in plain sight” through the analogy of the game of puzzles. Much like his comment at the beginning of the story about the mystery being too simple for the prefect to grasp, here he states that the letter was too obvious for the prefect to notice.

“No sooner had I glanced at this letter, than I concluded it to be that of which I was in search. To be sure, it was, to all appearance radically different from the one which the Prefect had read us so minute a description.”

This statement from Dupin demonstrates his ability to recognize, or perceive, the letter outside of the context in which it was originally described. He notices it precisely because he is looking for it in the specific context of the minister and what he knows of his psychology.