Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Purloined Letter” is a great short story to read for people who are fans of books such as “Sherlock Holmes” and “The Maltese Falcon”. It is a detective story, told by an unnamed narrator, about a letter that contained significant information about an important person in society which was stolen from the boudoir of a woman by a Minister D-. The Police turn to the narrator’s friend C. Auguste Dupin for advice on how to go about with the investigation to obtain the stolen letter from the perpetrator. They go on to discuss whether or not the police did a thorough investigation of the thief’s home and the prefect acknowledges that they in fact searched every possible inch and still did not locate the letter. “I am perfectly willing to take advice, and to pay for it. I would really give fifty thousand francs to anyone who would aid me in the matter.”(Poe, 7) This was the point in the story that Dupin was waiting for; he then replies to the Prefect “In that case, you may as well fill me up a check for the amount mentioned. When you have signed it, I will hand you the letter.” Once Dupin gets his money and hands over the purloined letter, he goes on to explain that he pretty much abducted the letter in the very same way that it was originally stolen from the woman’s boudoir. The moral- in my opinion, is to keep your eyes on what is important to you, otherwise it can get snatched out from under your nose.
you make a very good point to say that the moral of the story is to keep your eyes on what is important, as the narrator explained if you focus on the rewards instead of what it is you are looking for then you will never be able to only concentrate on the goal.
ReplyDeleteYes thats a really valid point. The prefect was so transfixed on getting the reward that he lost sight of his goal.
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