Dupin purposely left a gold snuffbox on the Minister’s table so that he could return to retrieve it the next day. During this second visit, their conversation is interrupted by the sound of a pistol shot and frightened voices, which of course draws the
Minister to the window. Dupin takes his opportunity to take the letter and replace it with a replica he had prepared. He explains that he had planted the gunman outside to create a distraction for just this purpose.
Dupin uses indirection to trick the Minister, who was himself amaster of indirection. Dupin bests his rival.The narrator of "The Purloined Letter" is unclear why Dupin replaced the letter, rather than just stealing it. Dupin explains that the Minister is a bold man with a lot of support around him,
so he may have killed him if he learned the truth. Also, Dupin is eager to get revenge for the royal lady, by transferring the political power to her – this can only be done if the Minister is unaware that he no longer possesses it. Dupin comments that it’s a popular view to think that it is easy to fall into moral ruin,
but he has no pity for the fallen.
Dupin’s motivations come into focus in this part. His goal is not somuch justice as it is a quest for revenge and success. It is difficult tosort him into a category of good or bad. His morality seems to followhis analytical mind, he favors sense and rationality but also hisemotions.Dupin is, however, curious to know how the Minister will react to the replacement letter, which he filled with a message. He explains now that the minister once personally wronged him and he had warned him at the time that he would remember it.
So, wanting to give the minister
a clue as to his identity, he wrote a single phrase on the letter, “Un dessein si funeste, S'il nest digne d'Atree, est digne de Thyeste,” which translates to
“So baneful a scheme,
if not worthy of Atreus, is worthy of
Thyestes.” This is from a story by Crebillon about a pair of brothers, who both wrong each other.
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