Why the narrator?
In the murders of rue morgue by Edgar Allen Poe there is one character that seems a bit out of place, the narrator. In the story the main character that everything focuses on is C. Auguste Dupin. Dupin is the one who solves the crime and makes all the observations. Also towards the end of the story he is usually the only one talking. So why have the narrator there if he isn't really doing much. This isn't even the only time we see this. In many Sherlock Holmes books the entire story is told through the eyes of Watson who also usually doesn't do much to help solve the crime.
One thought I had was that it keeps the story interesting by having someone that the main detective can talk to and share ideas with. It allows the main character to solve the mystery while not revealing too much to the reader until the end. I like this explanation, but it doesn't explain why the story is being told through the view point of the narrator. There could be another character that the detective can talk to without having the whole story told through that character's view. The only other idea I could think of was that maybe it get's the reader more involved in the story when we are looking at everything play out through the eyes of someone else who also doesn't know whats happening.
One thought I had was that it keeps the story interesting by having someone that the main detective can talk to and share ideas with. It allows the main character to solve the mystery while not revealing too much to the reader until the end. I like this explanation, but it doesn't explain why the story is being told through the view point of the narrator. There could be another character that the detective can talk to without having the whole story told through that character's view. The only other idea I could think of was that maybe it get's the reader more involved in the story when we are looking at everything play out through the eyes of someone else who also doesn't know whats happening.
I definitely agree with your ideas. I also think that having a narrator makes Dupin seem more peculiar and aloof. As the reader we naturally connect with the narrator of a story, so if we had Dupin tell the story rather than a separate narrator, it would probably take away from his characterization. Also, since Dupin's mind works so differently from that of an average person, we probably won't be able to understand the story if he told it since we won't be able to follow his chain of thought. So I guess the narrator serves almost as an interpreter between us and Dupin.
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