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Poe’s creation of the narrator of “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” establishes what would later become a famous character archetype: the detective’s admiring sidekick. He functions as a kind of foil for Dupin in that he is unable to grasp Dupin’s deductions, which in turn emphasizes Dupin’s brilliance. Although lacking Dupin’s analytical ability, the narrator clearly is a learned man in his own right. From his lengthy introduction to his idea of analysis, it appears that the narrator understands exactly why Dupin is able to solve cases so readily, even if he lacks the unique faculties that would allow him to make those deductions himself. That is, he’s intelligent enough to realize that Dupin’s intellect is unique, which is the very thing that draws him to Dupin in the first place. Like the characters he would later inspire, such as Doyle’s Dr. Watson (Sherlock Holmes’s devoted associate), the narrator’s relative intelligence makes Dupin’s seem all the more astounding.

From what little we can discern of the narrator’s character, he seems to be a relatively passive person. He doesn’t so much help Dupin’s investigation as follow him faithfully, eager to see where Dupin’s deductions lead them next. Although Dupin gives the narrator a pistol for the sailor’s arrival, it is Dupin who ultimately draws, once again remaining in charge of the action. As the narrator explains, he is happy to follow along with Dupin’s “wild whims.” How game he is for Dupin’s strange habits actually suggests that the narrator may not be as much of a boring blank slate as he first appears. After bonding over rare books, the narrator uses his comparative wealth to set Dupin and himself up in a “grotesque” mansion. They live there in seclusion together and go for walks at night, an act that the narrator himself says would make others describe them as mad men. This Romantic lifestyle that they both seem to enjoy suggests the narrator equally enjoys the unusual and bizarre. Some scholars have read Dupin and the narrator as lovers because of their immediate magnetism toward each other and subsequent seclusion from the rest of the world. However, this interpretation was never confirmed by Poe.

Previous section C. Auguste Dupin

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