The Purloined Letter

The story starts off with the Prefect of Police in Paris visiting a man named Dupin with a problem. He explains to him that a letter has been stolen and is being used to blackmail the person from whom it was stolen. He introduces him to find the letter since the owner of the letter is an important government figure. The Prefect believes Minister D has the letter, so he searches his home thoroughly, but finds nothing. Dupin suggests they research the house. A month later, Monsieur G returns, but finds nothing. This time, he says that he will pay fifty thousand francs to anyone who can obtain the letter for him. Dupin invites him to write the check; when this is done, Dupin hands the Prefect the letter without any further comment. The story doesn't have a lot of reader detective work that they have to follow throughout the story, the story more revolves around Dupin doing all of the detective work and we as the reader understanding his logic of detective work.

The Use of Force

This short story is about a doctor who makes a house call. The doctor is greeted by two friendly parents of a possibly very sick child. The story goes into extensive detail about the process of testing the child for the possible infectious disease, known as diphtheria. The story did have a psychotic feeling to it like some kind of bad 30's horror flick. The doctor seemed like an honest, caring doctor but for him to say, "I could have torn the child apart in my own fury and enjoyed it" was kind of disturbing. The title "The Use of Force" is regarding the force the doctor uses to examine the childs condition. But, it might also be relating to the dominant nature of man. One side of this man wants to cure her, and the other side of him wants to tear her apart. The story might be talking about the instabilities of human nature.

Hills Like White Elephants

This story consists of a man and a female talking about a highly controversial issue during the time of this short story, which is around 1927. The topic of the story is abortion, although we as the reader are indirectly pointed to that conclusion these people are debating the operation. The only sign these two are contemplating an abortion are the words "operation", the indirect eye contact between the two, and the repetitive reassurance the male gives to the female that it will be okay. The male obviously wants the operation but the female is unsure of the outcome of the situation. She isn't worried about her own safety or well being but rather she is concerned about how their relationship will be after this operation is over. It's interesting to read how conversations would be during this time period between partners when abortions were not as common, not as controversial, and not a safe practice for its time. I'll have to do some research on how abortions were treated, specifically in Madrid during this time period.