The Purloined Letter Essay

In The Purloined Letter, a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, the theme of wisdom versus wit arises in the epigraph even before the story begins. The epigraph, translated as “Nothing is more hateful to wisdom than cleverness”, establishes the two rivalries between Dupin and Minister D- (old rivalry) and Dupin and Monsieur G- (race to solve the crime; Poe 249). In these contentions, wisdom and knowledge fights against wit and cleverness, and these battles fuel the fictional narrative with an intriguing plot until the crime is solved and Dupin wins both competitions. The beginning of the short story introduces Dupin and Monsieur G- and their differing methods of detection. Monsieur G- is telling Dupin of his progress in the investigation, specifically how he

Dupin becomes impressed of this vast search for evidence, saying that the police is “thoroughly versed in the knowledge which their duties seem chiefly to demand” (256). However, I believe that Dupin also is disappointed in the lack of efficiency and creativity in the police’s detection method, for his method of stealing the letter (which is the catalyst to the solving the crime) is much more effective than Monsieur G-’s efforts, although his efforts were helpful. I remember reading the first line of Aristotle’s Metaphysics in a philosophy class last semester, which states that “all human beings by nature desire to know” (221). Connecting Aristotle’s statement with The Purloined Letter, I believe he is correct and that Dupin and Monsieur G- have their own unique ways