The very first lines of Poe's "The Man in the Crowd" imply that it is a secret story in nature, as Poe suggests that this particular tale cannot not “allow oneself to be read” ( p.1561). History itself assumes a responsibility independent of that of the author, because it is history itself which must compel the reader to find reason in its foundations. This story is very similar to the "secrets which do not allow themselves to be told" (p. 1561), because like the bearers of these secrets --- the men who die "at night... because of the hideousness of the mysteries who will not allow themselves to be revealed” (p.1561) --- the author, Poe, does not have the capacity to liberate what does not want to be liberated. Therefore, the reliability of the narrator is called into question, as the line separating the apparently sane narrator and the suspiciously insane man being followed, becomes vague when the two are literally shoulder to shoulder, retracing the recycled footsteps again and again on the other. Through careful analysis of the narrator's somewhat clinical observations, the reader is able to decipher his actions, for like the man being followed, he is wracked by despair and possesses a "crazy energy" (p. 1567) that drives him to retrace the steps of another. to direct oneself. The narrator is not able to deliberately release the unexplained complexities within him that have kept him "in ill health" (p. 1561), but being convalescent, he is now able to project the "film of [his] mental vision of the deceased”. (p.1561) on this text to shed light in the context of the man he follows in more than one way --- The anonymous man of the crowd. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay From the very beginning of this story, the reader is bombarded with evidence of the narrator's education, whether it be the various quotes in different languages ​​that are cited or even the impressive vocabulary that is often used. This can only be described as an attempt to gain the reader's confidence by proving an intelligence that has just been liberated and "electrified, going as far beyond its everyday condition as does Combe's lively but frank reason [and] the crazy and fragile rhetoric of Gorgias” (p.1561). Once "the fog that covered [the narrator's] intellect" has been lifted, Poe takes special care in drawing a comparison between the narrator's own source of reasoning and that of Gorgias, who, as the fifth indicates footnote, is “known for a kind of rhetoric which has been embellished at the expense of reason” (p. 1561). It is exactly this reason that is called into question, for although at first glance this metaphor may keep the narrator's healing intellect at an impressive level, in reality the very phrasing of the phrase calls into question the reasoning of the narrator. His rhetoric matches that of Gorgias, for in attempting to reassure the reader that he is a reliable source of information, the text gets bogged down in quotes from three different languages ​​in the first two paragraphs and seems overly wordy without a clear objective. As the evening progresses into the night, the narrator describes a car "that can be described as office-like for lack of a better word" (p. 1562), but the real irony lies in the fact that almost any other word would have conveyed a definitive message. meaning to the reader, because the word “deskism” is actually not a word at all. The narrator's control over his language, the method by which he reveals both his mysterious story and the method by which he hopes to persuade the reader that he is viable a coherent and reliable narrator, becomes lacking as he progresses in at night. the man thatthe narrator follows exists in the context of the narrator's own illusion. The narrator's reality changes as he is consumed by what is conducive to the improvement of his condition "the light of everyday life" (p.1561) and slowly becomes a victim of circumstances that he cannot control. -even. Poe intentionally distinguishes "day" by distinguishing the hyphenated word "every day" (P.1561) which he uses in the passage from the more familiar word "every day", because it is light that distorts the narrator's perspective by perhaps freeing a delusional mind that should not have been freed from the “haze…[of]…boredom” (p.1561) that had engendered the absence of paranoia. Before finding the man he is following, the narrator falls victim to his own hallucinatory perspective. The wild effects of light chained me to the examination of individual faces; and although the rapidity with which the world of light passed before the window prevented me from casting more than one glance at each face, yet it seemed that, in my then peculiar mental state, I could frequently read, even during this brief interval of time. at a glance, the history of many years. (p. 1564) The narrator creates his own “misunderstanding” of reality by modeling his observations in order to justify his own prefabricated theories. After admitting to being in a "peculiar mental state" (p. 1564), the narrator almost immediately finds a man whose "absolute idiosyncrasy of... expression" (p. 1564) prevails in the complete absorption of “the whole expression” of the narrator. be careful” (p. 1564). He notes that "I had never seen anything even remotely resembling this expression[,]" (p. 1564), but paradoxically goes on to analyze in detail the qualities that only a man with such an expression could to have. He calmly makes difficult judgments based on trivial visual stereotypes that force the reader to reconsider his position as a trustworthy narrator. He invokes his own violent and satisfying descriptions of what he perceives to be hidden in man, for "ideas of great mental power, of prudence or scarcity, of avarice, of self-control appeared confusedly and paradoxically in my mind. , of malice, of bloodlust, of triumph, of mirth, of excessive terror, of intense despair, of supreme despair, I felt singularly excited, surprised, fascinated” (p. 1564). There is nothing distinctive about the old man that could elicit such a reaction from the narrator, for the only evidence that would engender such a violent impression is the stranger's diamond or dagger which is only noticed ' after the narrator's initial tirade. autumn...a thick damp fog" hangs over our narrator, and like the "strange effect" that the weather conditions have on the crowd, our narrator too, in a different way, seems affected. He "doesn't care a lot of rain... [however] the presence of an old fever in [his] system makes the humidity a little too dangerously pleasant” (p. 1565). effects on his emotions, but what is perhaps more frightening is the fact that he seems to have anticipated such changes in himself without being aware of them. Immediately, he ties a handkerchief around his mouth, as if he is. was unconsciously trying to prevent himself or herself from communicating The secrets that lie beneath the surface of our narrator do not want to reveal themselves, because this is the precise moment where the clinical observations stop and the. plot takes on a cyclical structure Like the rainy weather, the cold, emotionless descriptions of the people in the crowd are no longer described as "exhibiting no symptoms" (p. 1562) or having “reddened faces” (p. 1562), because it is thenarrator himself who comes. subjected to careful scrutiny. He only notices a "sudden change in the behavior" (p. 1565) of the man he is following, and yet, curiously, for pages he cannot understand why the man's behavior is of such a nature. nervous and erratic. From the reader's point of view, it is easy to explain why the man changes his trajectory and walking pace, because his behavior is justifiable if he in fact feels like he is being followed. Almost a certainty since the closely followed man turns into his stalker time and time again and always tries to lose him in crowded places. As “the rain fell quickly” (p. 1565), the narrator blindly follows the stranger in the hope that he will not be detected. He comments on how "lucky" he is to wear "a pair of chewing gum over shoes [that make him] move in perfect silence" (p. 1565), once again not realizing that his subconscious took preventative precautions to prevent any actions the narrator's physical body might take to reveal the internal mind's guarded secrets. The rainy imagery and stagnation of the plot culminate in the chaos reflected by the psychosis of the narrator who follows a stranger. The narrator ends his pursuit of the unidentified man by concluding that the man he is following simply "refuses to be alone...[and] is a man of the crowd" (p. 1567), but he- even is reminiscent of the man he follows in this sense, for he also moves through crowds, like the people he observes, "feeling in solitude because of the very density of society surrounding” (p. 1562). He happily stays in the crowd, having first sought the busiest street in London to drink his coffee, and then finding himself in abundance in the “stormy sea of ​​human heads” (p. 1562). It is now possible for the reader to see that, just as he is reflected in the stranger he follows, he does the same, but to a lesser degree, with the other characters observed. Among the beggars, he notes that "only despair" (p. 1563) pushed them into the streets, "weak and horrible invalids, on whom death had laid a sure hand, and who slipped and staggered through the crowd looking at everyone pleadingly. face to face, as if in search of a chance consolation, of a lost hope” (p. 1563). He too follows the stranger for no definable reason until he finally "firmly decides that [they] will not part until he is satisfied to some extent with [the man being followed]" (p. 1565). He is like the beggar who searches for hope, for in following a stranger who assumes the qualities he actually possesses, the narrator is determined not to abandon his particular journey until he can respect himself. Keep in mind: This is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay The narrator ends this story by saying that "this may be just one of great mercies of God who 'er last sich nicht diminish'" (p. 1567), so like the book which cannot be read, the narrator's actions cannot be explained. His motives, however, can be revealed, for in realizing that he can never reveal the mysteries of the workings of his inner mind, he comes to respect himself by regarding the stranger he follows as "the typical and the genius of profound crime” (p. 1567). After a whole day spent following this stranger, the narrator comes to his senses and can only understand that he is “incapable of understanding the confusion of [the man being followed]” (p. 1566). In this understanding, or lack thereof, the narrator becomes "tired to death" (p. 1567), because the narrator is at the.