The Prefect, for example is perplexed by his own inability to solve a crime that seems so simple. He states We have all been a good deal puzzled because the affair is so simple, and yet baffles us all together. The minister make the Prefect seem a fool to the reader by showing him it is the very simplicity of the matter that allows the letter to elude his frantic searches. He brings to the readers attention that a poet such as the thief thinks differently than the average mind. In speaking of the Prefect and the rest of his force he mentions Their ingenuity is a faithful representative of the mass; but when cunning of the individual felon is diverse in character from their own, the felon foils them. Instead of hating him or pitying him as we might the characters in the other stories, the reader develops respect for his superior powers of reasoning. In the same way, instead of pitying or despising the victims of our lead character as in the past stories, we are somewhat humored by their being made fools of. The only thing Dupin really has in common with the narrator in The Black Cat and Hop-Frog is they are all of above average intelligence, a trait shared by many of Poes leading characters. Monsieur Dupin is a good and intelligent character who goes the whole story without any evil acts.As much as people tend to assume all of Poes stories are much alike, in comparing these three one can see he uses three different, distinct kinds of lead characters to generate different obvious reactions. The readers response to each lead character and those he interacts with changes from story to story. Therefore each story had a different overall effect and feel to it. The characters may quite possibly be the most important element in any story for if the reader cannot relate to the emotions or empathize at all with any of the character there will be little or no emotion provoked by the story, in which case it would likely have had littl...
