The Purloined Letter

All the direct action in “The Purloined Letter” takes place in the darkness of night. Both visits from Monsieur G—— occur on “dark gusty evenings” in Dupin’s home (6), where all the characters are also sitting in darkness. When the prefect arrives, Dupin rises to turn on a light only to extinguish it when he realizes the nature of the visit, stating, “If it is any point requiring reflection […] we shall examine it to better purpose in the dark” (7). The prefect also relies heavily on darkness, as all his searches of the minister’s residence take place at night. Like the motif of smoke, darkness is a motif that supports the theme of deception as well as that of Perception and Reality.

The most prominent symbol in “The Purloined Letter” is the letter itself, which serves explicitly as a symbol of The Nature and Exercise of Power. The contents of the letter are never divulged to the reader, which reinforces the fact that it is the possession of the letter that bestows the power. In fact, the narrator goes so far as to state “With the employment the power departs” (9). In other words, if the contents are revealed, the letter no longer confers power on its bearer.

Throughout the story, the letter passes from the queen, to the minister, to Dupin, and to the prefect before finally arriving back in the hands of the queen. Each character uses the letter to exercise power in line with their individual motivations: Minister D—— uses it for political power, Dupin uses it at a means of personal power in the form of revenge, and the prefect gains financial power from it.