The Man of the Crowd

Image taken from here. The user MGKellermeyer has some seriously well done images richly depicting various Gothic tales. I highly encourage you to check them out if you can here

My Thoughts

The Man of the Crowd is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. The narrator is based in London and spends his time watching the world go by. He is rather brilliant in his deductions of people, no doubt a precursor to Poe's only recurring character, Dupin. He picks many people out of the crowd and quite intelligently guesses their occupations and habits when he finds a very peculiar character that he is unable to read. It is a decrepit old man that is evidently carrying a dagger and a diamond. The narrator tirelessly follows the old man down many of the different streets of London for hours upon hours. While the old man approaches populated areas he seems to slouch and appear decrepit as when the narrator first saw him. When he is nearly alone, or at least thinks he is, he quickens his pace.

Nothing is found out about the old man in the end. The narrator gets tired and ceases with his pursuit. The old man, alluding to the very genesis of the story, does not permit himself to be read.

My Rating

I rate this short story a 2.5 out of 5. It was a little interesting but overall went nowhere. I understand the point Poe was attempting to make but I believe that I could have gone without so much ambiguity and a non-conclusive ending.