'Dupin and Holmes' Part 1 - The Murders in the Rue Morgue

'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' was Edgar Allan Poe's first story containing C. Auguste Dupin, his Holmes like fictional detective, and the anonymous narrator, who bears more than a passing similarity to Dr Watson. The connections are no coincidence. Poe's detective stories were some of the first ever written and had a strong influence on Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes even mentions Dupin in 'A Study in Scarlet', denigrating him as showy and extravagant while conceding that he has some analytic skill.

So how do Holmes and Dupin compare? While both fictional detectives share eccentric lifestyles and a whimsical approach to the horrors they encounter there are some noticeable differences. Dupin and his narrator are Byronic loners. They spend their days in a dim, shuttered house, occupying themselves with reading, writing and conversation in perfect seclusion. Only at night do they venture outside into the city in conversation on the topics of the day or in silent observation of the Parisian populace. In comparison, Holmes' dark moods and eccentric working habits seem relatively normal and Watson is so ordinary that he seems to exist only to narrate and trigger explanations of Sherlock's methods by his slow grasp of what is going on. Dupin's financial situation and background is also more romantic (in the gothic sense) than Holmes'. Sherlock is portrayed as obtaining a fair wage from his investigations and living a comfortable middle class life. Dupin, in contrast, is a fallen aristocrat who despite his brilliance has had his energy crushed by poverty. The only luxury he permits himself is the buying of books to distract him from his meaningless life.

As to who is the better detective I will have to wait until I've finished the other two Dupin stories. I've not read every Sherlock Holmes story but I think I've read enough to attempt a comparison. My only preliminary conclusion is that Holmes is right to accuse Dupin of showiness. Considering Poe's love of atmosphere and the macabre I think it would have been more surprising if Dupin hadn't been a bit of a showman.

Unfortunately the story itself is not quite up to Arthur Conan Doyle's standard. Early nineteenth century Paris makes just as creepy a location for a cryptic detective story as late nineteenth century London. However, the reader is not given enough clues to be able to preempt Dupin in any meaningful way. In this respect, Poe might have been better off writing a full length novel rather than a short story so as to draw out the conclusion more slowly and give a few hints about where it was going before the last scene. A longer novel would also have enabled him to make the most of his strong characters and excellent scenario. The final reveal, that the murders were committed by an escaped Orang-outang, has more than a faint whiff of the ridiculous about it. Worse, a similar idea was used later and in a superior manner by Doyle. The 'murderous beast' turning out to be the killer has had some of the novelty value stolen from it by the excellent Holmes story, 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'.