The Gold-Bug

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"The Gold-Bug"
Author Edgar Allan Poe
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Short story
Published in Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper
Media type Print (Periodical)
Publication date 1843

"The Gold-Bug" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, set on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina involving deciphering a secret message and finding buried treasure. The story was first published in the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper in June 1843 after Poe had won a competition held by the paper, receiving a prize of US$100.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

"The Gold-Bug" is a story of a strange man named William Legrand who seemingly goes mad after finding and being bitten by a bug thought to be made of pure gold. He notifies his closest friend, the narrator, telling him to immediately come visit him at his home on Sullivan's Island in South Carolina. Upon the narrator's arrival, Legrand informs him that they are embarking upon a search for lost treasure along with his African-American servant Jupiter. The narrator has intense doubt and questions if Legrand has gone insane. After following several clues, however, they find treasure buried by the infamous pirate "Captain Kidd," that is estimated by the narrator to be worth about fourteen million dollars. Once the treasure is safely secured, the man goes into an elaborate explanation of how he knew about the treasure's location, based on a set of occurrences that happened after the discovery of the gold bug.

The story involves cryptography with a detailed description of a method for solving a simple substitution cipher using letter frequencies. The cryptogram is:

53‡‡†305))6*;4826)4‡.)4‡);806*;48†8
¶60))85;1‡(;:‡*8†83(88)5*†;46(;88*96
*?;8)*‡(;485);5*†2:*‡(;4956*2(5*—4)8
¶8*;4069285);)6†8)4‡‡;1(‡9;48081;8:8‡
1;48†85;4)485†528806*81(‡9;48;(88;4
(‡?34;48)4‡;161;:188;‡?;

The decoded message is:

A good glass in the bishop's hostel in the devil's seat
forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes northeast and by north
main branch seventh limb east side shoot from the left eye of the death's-head
a bee line from the tree through the shot fifty feet out.

[edit] Analysis

Though Poe did not invent "secret writing" or cryptography (he was likely inspired by an interest in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe[1]), he certainly popularized it during his time. To most people in the 19th century, cryptography was mysterious and those able to break the codes were considered gifted with nearly supernatural ability.[2] Poe had drawn attention to it as a novelty over four months in the Philadelphia publication Alexander's Weekly Messenger in 1840. He had asked readers to submit their own substitution ciphers, boasting he could solve all of them with little effort.[3] In July 1841, Poe published "Some Words on Secret Writing" in Graham's Magazine and, realizing the interest in the topic, wrote "The Gold-Bug" as one of the few pieces of literature to incorporate ciphers as part of the story (Poe's character Legrand explains his ability to solve the cipher in a similar manner as Poe does in "Some Words on Secret Writing").[4]

Poe's depiction of the African servant Jupiter is often considered stereotypical and racist from a modern perspective. Jupiter is depicted as superstitious and so lacking in intelligence that he cannot tell his left from his right.[5]

[edit] Literary significance and impact

Poe played a major role in popularizing cryptograms in newspapers and magazines in this time period[6] and beyond. William Friedman, America's foremost cryptologist, initially became interested in cryptography after reading "The Gold-Bug" as a child - interest he later put to use in deciphering Japan's PURPLE code during World War II.[7] "The Gold-Bug" also includes the first use of the term "cryptograph" (as opposed to "cryptogram").[8] Poe's friend Thomas Holley Chivers said that "The Gold-Bug" ushered in "the Golden Age of Poe's Literary Life."[9] Though the story is often included amongst the short list of detective stories by Poe, "The Gold-Bug" is not technically detective fiction because Legrand withholds the evidence until after the solution is given.[10]

[edit] Publication history and reception

An 1875 French translation of "The Gold-Bug"
An 1875 French translation of "The Gold-Bug"

Poe originally sold "The Gold-Bug" to George Rex Graham for Graham's Magazine for $52 but asked for it back when he heard about a writing contest sponsored by Philadelphia's Dollar Newspaper.[11] Poe won the grand prize; in addition to winning $100, the story was published in two installments on June 21 and June 28, 1843, in the newspaper.[12] It was republished in three installments in the Saturday Courier in Philadelphia on June 24, July 1, and July 8, the last two appeared on the front page and included illustrations by F. O. C. Darley.[13] Further reprintings in United States newspapers made "The Gold-Bug" Poe's most widely-read short story during his lifetime.[14] By May 1844, Poe reported that it had circulated 300,000 copies.[15] As Poe wrote in a letter in 1848, it "made a great noise."[16] His $100 payment from the newspaper may have been the most he was paid for a single work.[17]

The popularity of the story also brought controversy. Within a month of its publication, Poe was accused of conspiring with the prize committee by Philadelphia's Daily Forum. Poe filed for a libel lawsuit against editor Francis Duffee. It was later dropped.[15]

A French translation of "The Gold-Bug" made in 1845 was then translated into Russian in 1847, Poe's literary debut in that country.[18]

[edit] Adaptations

The story proved popular enough in its day that a stage version opened on August 8, 1843. The production was put together by Silas S. Steele and was performed at the American Theatre in Philadelphia.[19] The editor of the Philadelphia newspaper The Spirit of the Times said the performance "dragged, and was rather tedious. The frame work was well enough, but wanted filling up."[20] An adaptation of the work appeared on ABC Weekend Special on February 2, 1980 (Season 3, Episode 7). It was directed by Robert Fuest with the teleplay being written by Edward Pomerantz.[21]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rosenheim, Shawn James. The Cryptographic Imagination: Secret Writing from Edgar Poe to the Internet. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. p. 13. ISBN 9780801853326
  2. ^ Friedman, William F. "Edgar Allan Poe, Cryptographer" in On Poe: The Best from "American Literature". Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993. p. 40-1
  3. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. p. 152
  4. ^ Rosenheim, Shawn James. The Cryptographic Imagination: Secret Writing from Edgar Poe to the Internet. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. p. 2, 6. ISBN 9780801853326
  5. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. p. 206 ISBN 0060923318
  6. ^ Friedman, William F. "Edgar Allan Poe, Cryptographer" in On Poe: The Best from "American Literature". Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993. p. 40-1
  7. ^ Rosenheim, Shawn James. The Cryptographic Imagination: Secret Writing from Edgar Poe to the Internet. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. p. 146. ISBN 9780801853326
  8. ^ Rosenheim, Shawn James. The Cryptographic Imagination: Secret Writing from Edgar Poe to the Internet. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. p. 20. ISBN 9780801853326
  9. ^ Chivers, Thomas Holley. Life of Poe, Richard Beale Davis, ed. E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1952. p. 36.
  10. ^ Haycraft, Howard. Murder for Pleasure: The Life and Times of the Detective Story. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1941: 9.
  11. ^ Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson. The Literary History of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1906. p. 239
  12. ^ Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 97
  13. ^ Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. ISBN 0801857309. p. 392.
  14. ^ Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 97
  15. ^ a b Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. Cooper Square Press, 1992. p. 136. ISBN 0815410387
  16. ^ Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. ISBN 0801857309. p. 539.
  17. ^ Hoffman, Daniel. Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe. Louisiana State University Press, 1998. p. 189
  18. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. p. 320
  19. ^ Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 268 ISBN 081604161X
  20. ^ Thomas, Dwight & David K. Jackson. The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe, 1809–1849. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1987. ISBN 0816187347. p. 434
  21. ^ "ABC Weekend Specials" The Gold Bug (1980).

[edit] External links

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Works of Edgar Allan Poe