Towards the beginning of the nineteenth-century American literature was a booming industry that was gaining worldwide acclaim. Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19th, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts (“Biography of Edgar Allan Poe”). Mr. Poe was most widely acclaimed and remembered for some of his Gothic works that he conceived. Of these works, “The Raven”, “A Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Cask of Amontillado” stand out to be some of his best works with the most details (Shmoop Editorial Team 1). After receiving tremendous support for his works, “The Purloined Letter” and “The Pit and The Pendulum,” they still remain some of Edgar Allan Poe’s least-known short stories. Even though these stories remain shoved under the carpet below the career …show more content…
The opposite can also be said about the prefect of the French police, Monsieur G. The prefect assumed that the Minister would try to find the best hiding spot in his apartment for the letter, however it is later found out that it was in such an obvious place that there was almost no reason for him to even look there. Dupin knew from day one what the minister would do with that letter, it was only a matter of looking where never would look. In order for Dupin to have discovered the hidden letter, he must have had a highly trained mind that could easily think outside of the box (“The Purloined Letter” …show more content…
This power comes in the form of money, political gain, and just sheer control. If the reader were to trace the movements of the letter throughout the story, he could see the different shiftings of power. This power then allows for the holder to do nearly whatever they want by use of blackmail (“The Pit and the Pendulum Plot Analysis”). The flow of power become evident once the Minister got the letter, the reader sees a power shift towards him. He has the power of knowing a dirty secret of one of the members of the royal family. With this power, he could easily blackmail this young lady to do all of his bindings so that he could accomplish anything he wanted to. However, there another change of power in the story. At the end of the story it is revealed that Dupin is in possession of the letter, he has the power. Dupin uses this power in a more conservative way than any of his predecessors. Dupin waited until the reward for the letter went up until he presented the letter to the police; by doing this, he was able to puppeteer the justice system to his advantage (“The Purloined Letter”