Comparison: Murder in the Rue Morgue & the Purloined Letter

Compare and Contrast

There are many comparisons between the “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Purloined Letter.” The stories are similar in the fact that they are both investigative stories. Also the stories both include an unnamed narrator, along with the investigative mind of C. Auguste Dupin. The similarities between the two stories are abundant.

One of the comparisons between “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and the “Purloined Letter” is the use of an unnamed narrator. In both stories this unnamed person initiates the story. “I was enjoying the luxury of meditation, in company with my friend Dupin.” (Poe Pg. 84) At the beginning of both of these stories, this unnamed narrator is often accompanying Dupin. The unnamed narrator always seems to mention how brilliant and intellectual Dupin is portrayed to be. The character of the unnamed narrator is used by Poe in both “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and in the “Purloined Letter.”

Another comparison between “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and the “Purloined Letter” is the fact both of these stories are investigative stories. Both of the stories have to do with a mystery, in the case of these stories a killing or thieving of some kind. “Dupin is eager to survey the setting because the newspaper reports portray the apartment as impossible to escape from the inside.” (Poe Pg. 51) Included in both of the stories is the illustration that the mystery at hand could not be solved. Also included in both stories is the fact Dupin always seems to solve the mystery with a cunning attention