The Murders In The Rue Morgue Essay -- essays research papers fc

In Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"The Murders in the Rue Morgue†, a crucial statement is declared about how he views the inner workings of men, as well as how men interact with women in society. The narrative is based around the horrific murder of two defenseless women, which seems to have been committed by a mystery â€Å"beast†. Poe demonstrates the primitive violent forces that exist within people, particularly men, which have the ability to escape in shocking ways, often against a woman. Poe uses violence as a negative, inhumane act, in order to reinforce the innate brutal impulses that are just under the surface of all male beings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Poe describes where the â€Å"Ourang-Outang† was originally taken from, with intent to embody the primitive undeveloped qualities in man. After being taken from an Indian Archipelago, Borneo, the Ourang-Outang is brought back to Paris, where he begins to obtain human characteristics simply by watching his master and learning through imitation. An example of this would be when the sailor comes back to his room and finds the Ourang-Outang â€Å"Razor in hand, and fully lathered, [it was] sitting before the looking-glass, attempting the operation of shaving, in which it had no doubt previously watched its master though the key-hole of the closet.†(Poe 120) When the beast becomes terrified, and escapes with the razor still in his hand, he is depicting the idea of a man’s inner â€Å"beast† getting loose when he fears a situation. During the scene when the Ourang-Outang â€Å"was flourishing the razor about her [Madame L’Espanayeâ₠¬â„¢s] face, imitating the motions of a barber†(121), the beast is thinking just like a human man. He is even using a human tool in order to commit these atrocious murders, which is indicative of Poe’s notion that all men are capable of performing horrible deeds at a time when their animalistic impulses take over.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is a stark contrast presented between civilized behavior and the primitive behavior that these slaughters suggest. The murders are so horrid and revolting that it does not seem conceivable that a human would have the ability to do the things that were done. Some of the evidence collected from the murder site included, â€Å" two or three long and thin tresses of gray human hair that seemed to have been pulled out by the roots.† (99) Likewise, â€Å"the body [of the old lady], as... ...e power. In society, it is the cerebral beings that are looked at strangely by others, which is declared by Poe when he says, â€Å"had the routine of our life at this place been known to the world, we should have been regarded as madmen-although, perhaps, as madmen of a harmless nature.† (95) Here he is desperately trying to show the immense divergence in the inner workings of a man’s mind, which he does quite well with the Ourang-Outang representing man, as well as having Dupin, a genius, solving the crime committed. Dupin is the epitome of civilization, while in direct contrast is the beast, whom is completely barbaric and uncivilized. Throughout the tale, Poe is able to show how all men have animalistic impulses deep down, while demonstrating how these rages are often taken out on defenseless women. He then goes on to show the contrast between man as civilized and logical, against man as uncultured and thoughtless. Poe demonstrates how either type of man can exist, yet poses the question of whether it is possible for both characteristics to be exhibited simultaneously in a single man. Works Cited 1. Poe, Edgar Allan. Selected Tales. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 1998.