Edgar Allan Poe’s novelette ‘The Murders of the Rue Morgue’ tells the story of a heinous and absurd crime.
Inexplicable.
But if you pause to examine the whole issue with a bit of attention, you will discover that the real subject around which the entire story revolves is the concept of ability.
First clue.
The murderer and Mr Dupin both possess the skills of an acrobat: one on the physical level and the other the mental one.
ON THE RAZOR’S EDGE
We can discover many other mirror elements between the murderer and Dupin, proceeding with caution.
Second clue.
For example, a razor is an object you can use to kill fiercely, but that simultaneously can turn into the symbol of the exceptional investigative mind’s ability to solve such a complex case.
Sharp thoughts, sharp as a razor.
MOVE FURTIVELY, INSTINCTIVELY
The murderous monkey and the investigator also share the indispensable ability to move with extreme agility.
Third clue.
They are instinctive and know how to displace the opponent.
They are extraordinary, both uncontrollable.
EVERYTHING, ONLY FOR ONE GAME
Fourth clue.
Poe talks about chess, checkers, and card games in the long opening preamble.
All these games, to varying degrees, involve elements such as attention and calculation.
The orangutan kills for fun, and Dupin solves the case for fun.
Two different games or the same game?
STRENGTH, STRENGTH, STRENGTH
The brutal one that sows death.
The relentless force of reasoning, smooth as glass.
IN THE END, WHO WINS?
With these clues, we have irrefutable proof of Edgar Allan Poe’s originality, of his unbridled and sublime imagination.
It wins above all else.
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