Complicated Simplicity In The Purloined Letter

Complicated Simplicity Trained professionals, armed with microscopes and overwhelming skill, could not find the purloined letter anywhere. Conversely, though it only rested in a card-rack, an obvious hiding spot. Edgar Allen Poe wrote “The Purloined Letter” in 1844. In this story, the Prefect of the Police asks the detective Dupin for aid in solving a perplexing case, in which the Minister steals a letter of value from a woman and hides it somewhere in his hotel, planning to blackmail the victim. Through the themes of trickery, logic, and power, complex schemes appear simple, while simplicity transforms into a bafflement only the brilliant Dupin can solve. The Minister used trickery to obtain power over the woman, but got tricked in return. Using a trap,

She “saw, but, of course, dared not call attention to the act, in the presence of the third personage who stood at her elbow,” (Poe 93-94.) Then, the Minister fooled the police, who could not find the letter because he placed it in an obvious spot they would overlook, for “had the letter been deposited within the range of their search, these fellows would, beyond a question, have found it,” (Poe 99.) Nevertheless, all this deception did not pass by Dupin, so he fooled the Minister into the most impressive trick yet, and took the letter right out from under his nose. Slyness abounds and creates the confusing case Dupin solves easily. Similarly, Dupin uses logic to outwit the Minister, who uses the same reasoning to try to make the purloined letter undetectable so he could continue profiting from his crime. The thief almost succeeded because the experienced police took “it for granted that all men proceed