If you've read any Holmes' stories, you've already picked up on the similarities, and Doyle copped to it. Perhaps the most famous of these is Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. You'll probably recognize him from the hundreds, if not thousands of TV, movie and book detectives that came after him. So let's take a look at where Poe may have gotten some ideas for this character. We want to be delighted with his cleverness, not moved by his tragic past. We're not looking for deep psychological insights. Which, for this kind of puzzle story, is all we need. They're not people so much as talking heads, and Dupin may as well be a walking, talking, pipe-smoking brain-in-a-vat. You may have noticed that "The Purloined Letter" really isn't about the characters. Likes: smoking, sitting in the dark, reading, detections. (Okay, we don't actually know what he blew it on, but it's definitely gone.) Thanks to the earlier " Murders in the Rue Morgue," we know that he's living on very little money. Dupin is a young, French, private detective, and the star of "The Purloined Letter." He's from a wealthy family but apparently dropped most of his inheritance on poker and loose women.
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