Summary man of crowd
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The document provides analysis of the short story "The Man of the Crowd" by Edgar Allan Poe. It discusses the symbolism of the old man who is followed by the narrator, representing a secret side of the narrator. It also examines the characterization of the crowd, narrator, and old man. Finally, it analyzes the changing settings of the story and identifies two themes - mystery surrounding the old man, and the loneliness of the old man as he clings to different groups.
Summary man of crowd
- 1. summary ///The story begins with a man sitting in a cafe drinking coffee. He is looking at crowds of people walking by and putting them in certain categories. Suddenly an old man appears which catchs the narrators eye. The narrator is unable to put him a group so he decides to follow him around the streets. He follows at a distance to not alert the man to his pressence, but to keep an eye on him. The narrator follows the old man around until the morning going through alley ways and shops. They walked through slums full of what seemed like criminals and homeless people. The old man never bought anything in the shops and seemed to walk with groups of people as if he belonged with them. They both arrive back at the street where our narrator encountered the old man. His final act the narrator does is stand infront of the old man and was still unnoticed by him. The old man disappears into the crowd and the narrator still is unable to put him in any category. The Man Of the Crowd SymbolismIn the story "The Man Of the Crowd," one of the biggest pieces of symbolism is the old man the narrator follows. The old man may not even exist to the narrator, but is actually a representation of a secret side of the narrator. This may explain why the old man never noticed or saw the narrator following him. There may even be an evil side to the old man represented by the dagger under his cloak. The old man may just be wandering the crowd in search of a lost friend or visiting areas of his past as a criminal. The Man Of the Crowd CharacterizationThe three main characters in this story are the crowd, the narrator, and the old man. The crowd itself is a character in the sense that the narrator groups each individual by what they look like and possible job. The narrator himself isn't really described in detail, but we could assume that he was a middle class worker. The old man however is greatly explained in detail, but the narrator himself cannot group him with anyone in the crowd. The old man's ear is off to the side giving the impression that a pen was held there. His occupation, given by the narrator, is a clerk. Throughout the story the old man goes through slums full of criminals and stores giving us the impression that he may at once been a criminal. This is enforced by the discovery of a dagger under his cloak. The Man of the Crowd SettingThe setting in The Man of the Crowd changes throughout the story. At first we read about the narrator sitting in an unnamed cafe. He stares outside the window looking at people putting them all in different groups defining their occupations and outter features. The story itself is based in London because of the amount of people their at the time. As the narrator follows the old man in the story they go through different setting changes. They find themselves in many stores, slums, and dark alley ways which associate themselves with crime. The narrator also follows the old man to a movie theater and then back to the streat where the pursuit began. The Man of the Crowd Theme OneThe first theme of the story is one of mystery. The narrator follows this old man around because he can't quite categorize him in any group of people. As he follows the old man around he notices the surrounding area. The old man seems to be visitng shops, slums, and dark alley ways and the narrator can't understand why. The old man flocks from one group of people to the next and one area to another. The narrator isn't able to group
- 2. him still at the end of the story. The mysterious old man is someone the narrator just doesn't understand. The Man of the Crowd Theme TwoThe second theme of the story is one of loneliness. The narrator sees this old man and is unable to group him leaving him alone in the crowd of people. As the narrator follows the old man he seems to be clinging to groups of people possibly trying to fit in. This is seen when the theater lets out and the old man follows a group of young people. Spending his days walking around streets and alley ways the old man is constantly looking for someone or something to be apart of. He is lonely and the only purpose he has left in life is to find a friend.