Ok... I need a summery of The Purloined Letter and something to say about the main characters. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!

~~~LOKI~~~

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2002

Answers

In a small room in Paris, the narrator is sitting with his friend C. Auguste Dupin. Monsieur G---, the Prefect of the Parisian police, arrives, having come to consult Dupin, famous for his crime- solving abilities, on a certain case. The Prefect says that the case is almost too simple: a document (a letter) has been taken from the royal apartments. In addition, the police know who has taken it: the Minister D---. The document, the Prefect explains, was in the possession of a young lady and the information it contains could harm a powerful individual. When the young lady was reading the letter, the man whom it concerned came into the room. Not wanting to arouse his suspicion, she put it down on a table next to her. The Minister D- -- then walked in and noted the letter's contents. While he talked to the lady and the subject of the letter, he opened a letter of his own, which looked much like the important letter. He left his own letter next to the first letter. Then, when he took his leave, he purposely left his own and took the lady's letter. Now, the Prefect tells Dupin and the narrator, the man who has the letter has a great deal of power over the man whom the letter is about.

Dupin asks whether the police have searched the Minister's hotel. After all, the power of the letter comes from its being readily available; it must be in his apartment. The Prefect responds that they have searched, but have not found the letter. The Prefect recounts the search procedure, wherein the police searched every nook and cranny. In addition, the letter could not be on the Minister himself as the police have searched him. The Prefect mentions that he is willing to search long and hard because the reward offered in the case is so generous. Upon Dupin's request, the Prefect reads him a physical description of the letter. Dupin suggests that the police search again.

One month later, Dupin and the narrator are again sitting together when the Prefect visits. The Prefect admits that he cannot find the letter, even though the reward has increased. The Prefect says that he will pay 50,000 francs to anyone who obtains the letter for him. Dupin tells him to write a check for that much. When the Prefect does, Dupin hands over the letter. The Prefect rushes off to return it to its rightful owner, and Dupin explains how he got the letter.

Dupin says that the police are good at searching, according to their own principles. He explains what he means by describing a young boy playing "even and odd." In this game, one must guess whether the number of things (usually toys) another person is holding is even or odd. If the guesser is right, he gets one of the toys. If he is wrong, he loses a toy of his own. The boy that Dupin describes was good at the game because he guesses based on what he knows of the boy he is playing against. When he has a hard time, he imitates the facial expression of his opponent and sees how he feels. Based on that, he often guesses correctly. Dupin argues that the Parisian police do not use this trick, and therefore could not find the letter: the police only think to look for a letter in places where they themselves might hide it.

Dupin argues that the Minister is intelligent enough not to hide the letter in the normal nooks and crannies of his apartment. He tells the narrator that there is a game of puzzles that one can play where one player finds a name on a map and tells the other player to find it. Amateurs, Dupin says, pick the smallest-lettered names. But, the hardest names to find are those that stretch broadly across a map, because they are so "obvious."

With this game in mind, Dupin went to the Minister's apartment. While there, he surveyed the whole place. Finally he noticed a group of visiting cards hanging from the mantelpiece. With them was a letter. It had a different exterior than that which the Prefect had described, but Dupin also noticed that the letter looked like it had been folded back on itself. He was sure it was the {letter} stolen document. He left, purposely "forgetting" to bring his snuffbox with him. When he went back a few days later to retrieve it, he arranged for someone to make a commotion outside the window while he was in the apartment. When the Minister rushed to the window to see where the noise was coming from, Dupin replaced the letter with one that he made to look similar. The reason that he left another one, he explains to the narrator, is that the Minister will embarrass himself by thinking that he still has the letter and by acting accordingly.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2002

please i want an analyses of The Purloined Letter

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2003