The Murders in the Rue Morgue Awe and Amazement Quotes Page 2
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| Quote #4 "How was it possible," I asked, "that you should know the man to be a sailor, and belonging to a Maltese vessel?" |
So it's not all just reasoning. The narrator's amazement draws out evidence that Dupin needs supplemental knowledge to make his claims, knowledge like this bit about Maltese knots. In the midst of the narrator's points about different kinds of human intelligence, where does sheer knowledge fit in?
| Quote #5 "I don't mean that you should be at all this trouble for nothing, sir," said the man. "Couldn't expect it. Am very willing to pay a reward for the finding of the animal — that is to say, any thing in reason." |
Here, we see the effect of Dupin's sudden flights of insight on someone who isn't familiar with his methods. Dupin's insight strikes him like a blow: the sailor's face "flushed up as if he were struggling with suffocation." How does this physical response on the part of the sailor affect our own feelings about Dupin's genius? Are you impressed? Impatient? What is your reaction?
