The Gold Bug

The Gold Bug

In life, many people choose to hide in the illusion of situations, instead of facing the world. Determining whether something is an illusion or reality is not that easy which is why many do not realize they are living this way. “The Gold-Bug”, a short story by Edger Allan Poe, is a perfect example showing two people who hide behind illusions and one who wants them to know the reality of them. All through the story the narrator and Jupiter, Legrand’s black companion, are creating illusions of Legrand and the things he is doing. Legrand is then proving them wrong by showing them the reality of the whole problem. To keep the story flowing smoothly, Poe uses the theme illusion verse reality.

He is a “recluse” who on the “more remote end of the island […] built himself a small hut” (1). Not only does he separate himself from the world, but also he is “infected with misanthropy, and is subject to perverse moods of alternate enthusiasm and melancholy” (1). This is the description of how the narrator describes Legrand to us. As we read on and begin to put pieces together in the puzzle, we realize that the narrator is mistaken as to who Legrand really is. Yes, he might have had his mood swings and hated mankind, but he was more than that. He is a smart scientist. We know this because he is “well educated”, has “with him many books”, has “unusual powers of mind”, and has a “collection” of “entomological specimens […] envied by a Swammerdamm” (1). Throughout the story, we notice that the other two characters are nothing like Legrand; Legrand understands and knows more complex things than they do. When we put his characteristics with the inference we made of him against the two characters, we can conclude that he is a great scientist.

As the story moves on, Legrand and Jupiter find a scarabaeus while they were walking along the beach on day. After beginning to act weird ever since that day and then asking them to go on “an expedition into the hills” (7) because of the bug they think he is going insane. Adding on, he tells Jupiter climb a certain tree after walking for more than two hours. While Jupiter is in this tree, Legrand tells him to go up seven limbs. When he finally reaches the limb he asks him what he sees at the end of that limb. When Jupiter tells him there is a skull, Legrand tells him to “find the left eye of skull, […] let the beetle drop through it, as far as the string will reach, […] and come down from the tree” (10). When Jupiter made from the tree, he tells them both to start digging in the area he specified. After digging “steadily for two hours” (11) they found nothing, confirming to Jupiter and the narrator that Legrand is truly insane. But as they were just leaving Legrand asked Jupiter, “Which is your left eye?” (12). Jupiter pointed to his right while saying “Oh, my golly, Massa Will! ain’t dis here my lef’ eye” (12). After seeing that Jupiter put it down the right eye, Legrand told them that “the game’s not up yet” (12) and headed back to the tree. Refiguring the distances they began digging again. Not long after digging, pieces of valuables began to show and eventually they “unearthed an oblong chest of wood” (13). “A treasure of incalculable value lay gleaming before” (14) them, when they removed the lid of the chest. Taking the treasure back to Legrand’s hut they had over one point two million dollars in their possession.

In short, Legrand is the man who finds out where the treasure is hidden, not Jupiter or the narrator. As Legrand tells the narrator how he discovered the treasure, the narrator is amazed that he even knew what everything meant. Legrand first states that the piece of paper he drew the picture of the scarabaeus on was a “scrap of parchment” (15). The narrator corrects him saying, “The scrap of paper, you mean” (16). Legrand says “at first” he too “supposed it to be such, but when I came to draw upon it, I discovered