Loading Likes... While initially intrigued by the title of this story (why would people ever again use the term “stolen” when they could always say “purloined”), I was engaged throughout the story as I noticed tropes of detective stories originating from Poe’s work. I particularly enjoyed the image of the calm and collected Detective Dupin, claiming immediately of the ease of the case described by the rattled and rather arrogant Prefect. Particularly the quote involving the several “puffs” out of Dupin’s cigar, the image of a calculating and cunning detective with the parallel of the gullible and discombobulated police officer immediately struck me with familiarity. Such tropes are echoed in modern works such as Knives Out. Such structure of characters allowed Poe to effectively present his own voice through Dupin’s, distinguished by Dupin’s dialogue and the narrator’s interjections and reactions, furthering the story along.
Even with Dupin as the speaker, I wonder if Poe inserted his own voice, as the detective used obscure allusions to Latin as well as historic texts, up until the very end with a reference to Classical stories in his fac-simile. In addition, Dupin’s effusive praise of poets and their cunning nature seems a bit strange for a detective to elaborate upon, but characteristic of the author. Poe also managed to insert a characteristic interest in architecture with the exchange between Dupin and the Prefect about the hotel search. While potentially effective in using exhaustive description to present the exhaustive search undergone by the police, the cluttered and largely inconsequential imagery seemed very characteristic of Poe’s writing.
Propping open the answer to the “Who dunnit” in the first paragraphs, as well as revealing the knowledge of Dupin early in the story, created an effectively entertaining piece for Poe’s audience.