What Is The Ending Of The Murders In The Rue Morgue Explained?

2026-02-22 02:07:07
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Ivy
Ivy
Favorite read: Where the Dead go to Die
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The ending of 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' still gives me chills when I think about it! After all the gruesome details of the crime—the mother and daughter brutally murdered in a locked room, the strange hair found at the scene—the resolution is both shocking and bizarre. Auguste Dupin, the brilliant amateur detective, deduces that the killer wasn't human at all. It was an orangutan, escaped from a sailor who'd brought it back from overseas. The animal, wielding a razor, mimicked its owner's shaving and went into a frenzy. The sailor, realizing his pet was the culprit, helps Dupin confirm the truth. The story's twist redefined detective fiction by introducing the idea of an 'impossible crime' solved through pure logic.

What fascinates me most is how Poe plays with expectations. The murders seem supernatural at first, but Dupin's methodical approach reveals a perfectly natural (if wildly unexpected) explanation. The sailor's testimony wraps everything up neatly, but the lingering horror comes from imagining that primal violence unleashed in a civilized space. It's no wonder this story inspired countless locked-room mysteries—it's a masterclass in misdirection and deduction. Even now, I admire how Poe blends horror and logic so seamlessly.
2026-02-24 02:01:23
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Helpful Reader Pharmacist
Man, the ending of 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' hits differently when you realize it's basically the birth of the detective genre! Dupin's big reveal that an orangutan committed the murders feels almost absurd now, but back then? Revolutionary. The sailor's confession—how he chased the ape through Paris—adds this darkly comedic layer to the tragedy. What sticks with me is the irony: the 'monster' was just an animal acting on instinct, while the real horror lies in human negligence. Poe basically trolled his readers by making the solution both mundane and utterly bizarre. Genius.
2026-02-26 06:45:58
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