A comparison of Edgar Allen Poe's character C. Auguste Dupin with Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, with an analysis of why the latter is so much more famous than the former.
Abstract The paper identifies Poe as the inventor of the genre of detective fiction, with his character C. Auguste Dupin, who was introduced in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". The paper compares Dupin's character with that of Sherlock Holmes, as Holmes is described by creator Doyle in "The Hound of the Baskervilles", and notes many similarities between the two fictional detectives. It then analyzes the claim that Sherlock Holmes was based on the real life doctor Joseph Bell, with whom Doyle was well acquainted. After returning to a comparison of Dupin and Holmes, the paper reviews the first person narrator of the Holmes stories, Dr. John Watson, and concludes that Doyle did not base his detective on Poe's work. The paper also reviews other early detective novels, going back to the Greek Herodotus and returning to 19th century Europe and America, before resuming its comparison of Poe and Doyle and finding the former to be a better writer. The paper quotes various Holmes stories, and discusses adaptations of those stories to stage and screen, noting Holmes' incredible popularity and lamenting the lack of same for Dupin. In conclusion, the paper finds Holmes to be Dupin's spiritual successor, if not actually drawn on him, and finds the similarities to be, in Holmes' words, "Elementary!"
From the Paper "In fashioning the detective story, Poe eschewed the very ideal of most writers that truth is not necessarily the object of literature. Truth was very much the object in the short stories of C. Auguste Dupin. So why do critics say that Poe "invented" the detective story? Surely, there were detectives working prior to 1841, and surely, some of the stories before Poe had been about crime and criminals. The reasons given include the creation of classic rules of detective fiction that has survived through Doyle and Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, the two men who write under the name Ellery Queen, to Dashiell Hammett and even Mickey Spillane."
Abstract This paper explains that poet and writer Edgar Allan Poe gave birth to the genre of mystery and detective story-telling, popularized through his character Auguste Dupin, who is considered the first detective character to demonstrate the disciplines of deduction and logical thinking in solving the mysteries and crimes that plague society; Conan Doyle's fictional detective character, the well-known Sherlock Holmes, exhibited similar characteristics. The author compares Poe and Doyle's literary works based on their use of stereotyping and pattern-formation (logos), ethos and establishment of pathos as rhetorical techniques in which they solve mystery cases. This paper relates that Dupin's character was portrayed in the most eccentric light as possible by Poe, perhaps giving him a single commonality with the readers through his poverty; in proving Holmes credible to solve the mysteries of English society, Doyle also utilized the character of eccentricity as the most salient points of Holmes' character.
From the Paper "Dupin's solution to the murders at the Rue Morgue was based on a stereotype and pattern found in the facts available about the case. Pattern formation was apparent in his analysis of the witnesses' accounts of the events before, during, and after the murder. His discovery that each witness's testimony reflected the fact that "[e]ach likens it (the voice heard)-not to the voice of an individual of any nation...but the converse," a point that led him to conclude that the murderer was of an 'alien' nature, someone who does not speak the language of any of the nationalities of the witnesses."
Abstract This paper examines the plausibility of Agent Dale Cooper as compared to the classic and renowned detectives. The paper discusses Cooper's similarities and differences in comparison to Sherlock Holmes and the character from Edgar Allan Poe's work, C. Auguste Dupin. The paper makes the case for Cooper as an effective detective figure, exploiting obvious character traits. It includes an annotated bibliography.
From the Paper "Cooper, contrarily, follows his visions and believes his dreams. A ghostly giant gives him clues, he takes heed of the suggestions an elderly woman's pet log offers him, and he is sucked into the realm of the supernatural ?Black Lodge.? This differentiation is a far cry from classical detective fiction. Cooper can fluidly cross the lines of his set guidelines of detection. He seems to understand the boundaries of his job and yet oversteps his bounds with ease and comfort."
Abstract Many of the works of Edgar Allen Poe take us into the deepest and darkest recesses of the human mind. Luckily, we are usually privileged to have as our guide, a narrator who is intimately familiar with these gloomy, gothic caverns. This paper examines the role of the narrator in works such as "The Cask of Amontillado", "Tell Tale Heart" and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", among others.
From the Paper "The fact that Dupin is the reader's guide to the depraved mind causes us to puzzle whether it is possible to understand the deranged. If even the insane follow a certain logic, even if it is a logic that is peculiar to one individual, can we then still speak of that individual as "insane?" Many of Poe's narrators appear to be more "upset" (as in dis-arranged) in their minds then completely without any hold on the wider reality that we all share."
Abstract This paper explains that the father of the detective fiction, Edgar Allan Poe, provided the detective story model for nineteenth-century British novelist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation of one of the world's most famous detective Sherlock Holmes. The author reviews Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Mystery of Marie Roget" and "The Purloined Letter" to illustrate the ways in which amateur sleuth Auguste Dupin was the pattern upon which Doyle created Holmes. The paper uses textual analysis and historical evidence to reveal that Doyle borrowed from Poe the logical method, the details of personal habits and personality and the narrator who purports to present the exploits of his brainy, withdrawn friend to the public.
From the Paper "Holmes is also influenced by Dupin and his peculiar attachment to a loyal companion who serves to document the successes of his brilliant mentor. Like Dupin's associate, Watson plays the part of the straight man in Doyle's tale. He essentially an observer whose sole purpose is to offer fumbling assistance to the detective, typically by way of inaccurate observations, suppositions, and conclusions that Holmes then corrects. It becomes very obvious that Doyle patterned the ineffectual and lovable Watson, directly after Dupin's friend."
Tags: genre model eccentric method, fumbling police
