Murders In The Rue Morgue By Seneca And Dupin

The epigraph by Seneca, which means which refers to Dupin’s amazing analytical abilities. Both the Minister and Dupin have equally matched minds, that combine skills of mathematician and poet. At the end, Dupin is the one who wins because of his moral strength: The Minister is a man without principles, as he did not put second thought into trying to blackmail the lady, who is, presumably, the Queen, so that he can rise in position and status. Minister D.’ s ability to outwit the police in his crime proves that he is a worthy adversary for Dupin. Dupin’s critics to Monsieur G. are by no means a personal attack to him. Rather, it is a critique of the mode of investigation used by the police. In both short stories “The Murders in the Rue …show more content…
In “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” the police cannot surpass the horrifying nature of the double homicide. They are so distracted by the mutilated and choked victims, that they do not inspect the windows of the apartment, which was a central point to the investigation of these murders. What makes Dupin such a great detective is the fact that he distances himself from the emotional aspect of a crime. He is almost like a mathematician, as he views the crime scene as a place of calculation. In “The Purloined Letter,” Dupin solves the theft of the letter by putting himself at risk. While the police of Paris only investigate the actions of the Minister, Dupin ignores politics and goes straight into the minister’s house. Thus, he states that the police cannot think outside of the box, and that was the reason why they were so unsuccessful in finding the letter. To him, the Paris police use unoriginal methods of analysis and they are so easily distracted by the specific facts of the crime that cannot see the obvious that is in from of them. They cannot place themselves in the minds of the criminals, and only Dupin is able to do so. Instead of thinking by his own mind, Dupin actually tries to think like the