Detective story and its brief content. "Murder in the street Morgue" - the first original story in this genre

Edgar Allan Poe is an American writer, a talented and gifted man whose life was spent in the struggle against disasters and poverty. He was the first to create the image of an amateur detective who has analytical skills, and who is accompanied by a satellite in his investigation, surprised at the analyst's deep penetration into intricate stories.
The first detective story, although there was no such word at that time, was published in 1841. It was called Murder on Morgue Street. According to Edgar Allan in 1842 and in 1845 two more times this hero will be shown on the pages of his stories. These three works will have a huge impact on American and European literature. And now your attention is offered a brief summary of the story "Murder in the street Morgue." But it would be better for the reader to choose the time and fully read this fascinating story.

Introduction

First, the author prepares the reader and explains what analytical skills are. This is necessary, because this is the first work in which they are applied by the main character. The analysis that the hero will do is built on his ability to identify links between seemingly unrelated events and small details. To do this, he uses logic, on the basis of which he builds a holistic image of the problem situation. This is the very beginning of the story mentioned above. Now let's present its brief content. "Murder in the street Morgue" - the story is not long, only 14-15 sheets.

What does the protagonist look like?

The case takes place in Paris of the XIX century. Auguste Dupin, who will investigate the murder, is a young man. He has extensive erudition and fresh imagination. Dupin is poor, although of a good kind. But he lives in very cramped circumstances, against which he ceased to fight. However, as he himself says, people for him are an open book, and confirms this by an example when he "read" the thoughts of his companion, who was silent about 15 minutes.

By this he shows how his analysis works in everyday life. He will easily, without much stress, find the solution to the crime. We will analyze this work and give its brief content. Murder on Morgue Street will shake the whole of Paris and be unbearable for the police.

What did the evening issue of the "Judicial Gazette" say?

Two friends came across a fresh message about an unheard-of murder. The newspaper was given his extensive description with all the details. The mother and daughter are brutally murdered, Madame and Mademoiselle L'Espana. They lived on the 4th floor of their own house, which they rented out. Lived quietly and modestly. Nobody came to them practically, and suddenly in the middle of the night the sleep of the inhabitants of the quarter was broken by heart-rending cries. When all the neighbors fled, the shouts ceased, and it was impossible to get into the widow's apartment and her daughter Camilla: the door was locked. This is a tie of that terrible story, which is given a brief summary. Murder in the street Morgue will be furnished with nightmarish bloody details.

What was behind the door

When the police cracked the door, all the onlookers were horrified. All the furniture in the rooms was scattered and broken. But neither Camilla nor her mother was anywhere. After careful searches found the mutilated corpse of a young woman in the chimney. His criminal, who apparently had incredible power, pushed his head down. Four strong men barely pulled it out. The body of the unhappy was covered with huge bruises, and on the neck there were stains from the fingers. She was strangled after bullying.

Find in the yard

In the courtyard under the windows of the apartment lay the corpse of Madame L'Espana. When he was lifted, his head fell back. It was cut off. Hands and feet were broken in several places. And on his stomach was a huge bruise. The monster beat her with something heavy. This kind of mockery and brutality were carried over by two innocent women, as the story tells. We are only reviewing the summary. "Murder in the street Morgue" - a story with chilling details.

What did the survey of witnesses

No one saw anything, only everyone heard the two talking behind the door. One is certain, no one doubted there was a Frenchman. On the nationality of the second, who spoke inarticulously, in a nasty shrill voice, the opinions differed. Someone said that he was a Frenchman, someone - an Englishman. There were suggestions that he was a Spaniard, an Italian, and even a Russian. In general, the opinions of onlookers clarity did not add. The police found themselves at a dead end and arrested a young man who the day before had brought a large sum of money to the ladies, although she was not kidnapped, and was lying on the table.

How to deal with the Dupin case

He was upset, above all, to the fact that they arrested an innocent man, besides, he knew him. After going to the police, Dupin received permission to inspect the scene. At first the detective examined the house in the most careful way from the outside and the whole courtyard, and only then, after showing permission, he entered the apartment. Chaos reigned everywhere, and two corpses lay. Dupin's companion saw what he had already read in the newspapers. The young man himself carefully examined the entire apartment, its windows and doors and both corpses. In this part of the story, the author does not give a hint of how the murder in Morgue Street actually took place. By Edgar Allan keeps the reader in perplexity.

What allowed the investigation of Dupin

Dupin, as it turned out, came, having examined the corpses, to the incredible conclusion: it was not a man who killed women. In the hands of the widow, the pieces of the animal's red hair were clamped, and the fingerprints on Camilla's neck did not coincide with the human. Paradoxically, it was an orangutan. Our hero advertised in a newspaper read by sailors, because in the room he found a scrap of tape, which the people of the sea tie their hair, that they found far from the scene of the crime, in the Bois de Boulogne, orangutan, and he intends to return the beast to the master. He was not slow to appear, because the animal was worth a lot of money.

At gunpoint

And really, came a strong tanned sailor who wanted to get his animal. Under the pistols, he told how this beast escaped from him, how cleverly he climbed up the lightning rod to the fourth floor and, quickly embittered, killed the women, and then fled to an unknown destination. For the end, the case was referred to the police. The innocent was released, the sailor was not acquitted as a result of harm to women, and the orangutan was found and sold to the Botanical Garden.

We have conveyed only the outline of the history that Po Edgar created. "Murder Street Morgue," the summary of which we outlined, is much more interesting in the author's performance. There is something to think about. And later writers, primarily Britain, created similar pairs of heroes - a shrewd analyst-detective and simple-hearted assistant. So Edgar Poe introduced into literature a new popular and many favorite genre - detective.