Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Purloined Letter
This reminided me of a Sherlock Holmes tale just a bit. This because of the reasoning Dupin used in finding the letter. It was simple and yet complex. He reasoned that the Minister would know that the police would search his premises and search thoroughly but would not look at what was right in front of them. "Think like your enemy" is the main thought here. A wise thought in many circumstances. Vito says to Michael "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer." This is not just a statement of physical location (so you can keep an eye on them) but one of a mental sense as well. So while the Minister thought like the police, Dupin thought like the Minister. His explanation of this to our unnamed narrator may have been a bit complicated but that is what he is saying and eventually did say. I also found this story had some humor in it. I had to smile at the way he descibes what can sometimes be hidden in plain sight. For his point he mentions a game in which one person chooses a word on a map for another to find. He says that sometimes the harder word to find is one which stretches across the whole map. As a last thought, I'll be interested in seeing if I can get translations for all the French used. Anyone know French?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I agree with you (and Poe) about the things hidden in plain sight being tougher to see sometimes, but in my opinion the whole "think like your opponent" business is a bit of a stretch. Especially the example Poe uses with the odds and evens guessing game. I think that in the end, the wunderkind is still just guessing, not really outthinking his opponent.
"Il y a à parièr que toute idée publique, toute convention reçue est une sottise, car elle a convenue au plus grand nombre."
(My translation: I'd bet that every popular idea, all conventional wisdom is foolishness, because it has been accepted by the vast majority.)
"Un dessein si funeste, S'il n'est digne d'Atrée, est digne de Thyeste."
(My translation: Such a tragic ploy is worthy of Thyestes, if not Atreus.)
There are a few Latin phrases too. I got my translation of Seneca from Babylon. Hope this helps.
I did not even think of the story in that sense, when you mentioned, “keep your friends close but your enemies closer” but I can see where you are coming from. Also, yes, the minster did think like the police and Duplin put himself in the ministers shoes. It is funny that the minister thought he can outsmart the police, by hiding the letter in a “simple” place.
So it leaves us to wonder who are Thyestes and Atreus? They are brothers from Greek mythology who were exiled by their father after killing their half brother and trying to seek the throne of Olympia. They seem to have been involved in the soap-opera like plots typical of Greek and Roman myths. Perhaps the reference is relevant because the thief in the story attempted to betray the letter's owner to further his own political power.
Interesting blog exchange. The "esplanation" sections of the story, and the child's game metaphor are worth looking into in detail...
hi my thought was that the guy already had the letter because it was giving to him by some one and he just put stuff in it.
Poe actually initiated the genre and not vice versa. Holmes (Conan-Doyle) came later. C. Auguste Dupin is an original.
Post a Comment