"The Murders in the Rue Morgue", a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, is considered one of the first detective novels. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Tailor -essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get Original EssayThe story opens with the discovery of the violent murder of an old woman and her daughter. No gruesome details. is spared in the description of the crime scene is discovered by neighbors responding to the women's screams. The police are baffled that the murderer managed to escape, even though the women's apartment appears to have been completely destroyed. sealed from the inside With "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", Edgar Allan Poe presents the prototype of the quintessential detective of literature, in the form of Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin, whose theory and powers of analysis are demonstrated by his ability to solve a seemingly impossible case. Dupin and his anonymous friend, who tells the story. — offer their services to the police and, thanks to a brilliant interpretation of the clues present on the scene, identify the murderer, a fleeing Ourang-Outang. Poe describes Dupin's method as "ratiocination" = the process of exact thought; the process of logical reasoning or rational thinking. The key to Dupin's excellent analytical aptitude lies in his ability to imagine the minds of his opponents and use his understanding of how others think to reconstruct their thoughts - and therefore their actions - in his own mind. . He loves to look at faces and body language to make inferences, and he views the surface of things as the best source of clues about what's going on underneath. It is this trait that makes Dupin a great detective. He can look past the obvious clues that confuse the police (like the four thousand francs on the ground, which the police believe should provide the motive, because who doesn't want a lot of money?) and sees the small details which indicate what actually happened at the crime scene. Dupin uses not only logic but also creativity to solve his case. The story's epigraph also alludes to the main character's detective skills. Epigraph: "What songs the Syrens sang, or what name Achilles took when he hid among the women, though puzzling questions are not beyond conjecture." » – Mr. Thomas Browne; Urn-BurialThis quote poses two questions that are impossible to answer. But the passage also says that, even if we cannot know the exact answers to these questions, we can still have fun guessing them (that is, conjecturing), which is a bit what does the main character (Monsieur Dupin) in the film. new. He examines a set of impossible clues and then arrives, improbably, at the correct answer. This epigraph tells us that even the most obscure and ridiculous things do not necessarily escape human logic. In general, Dupin is the flip side of the criminally insane in Poe's other stories. While Poe's psychotic protagonists cannot even understand the logic of their own thoughts and actions, Dupin specializes in understanding exactly these areas in the minds of others. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get Custom Essay In its presentation of an amateur detective who uses "ratiocination" to solve a seemingly inexplicable mystery, Poe's short story shaped a new genre of fiction. Dupin's imprint is visible on the protagonists of dozens of other detective novels, the best known among them being Sherlock..