Poe's "Man of the Crowd": Analysis and Film Adaptation

Introduction

Edgar Allan Poe's 1840 short story The Man of the Crowd significantly depicts not only the preoccupations of nineteenth-century London and trends driven by progressive industrialization, but speaks with considerable relevance to the modern era as well. The epigraph — "Such a great misfortune, not to be able to be alone" — encapsulates the very essence of the story: the dynamic of a human being too busy to mingle with the crowd for fear of facing the haunting memory of a disturbed self, a lonely conscience, and the unsettling disturbances that lurk within. The epigraph is rich in context within the story and equally rich as a source of reflection on human and societal struggle.

The story is not only significant to the theme and era in which it was written; it is also a narrative worthy of film adaptation. It is a stark representation of the fact that many — if not most — of us are truly "unknown" to ourselves, and fear that unknown, yet hide such insignificance through anonymity in the bustling noise of everyday life, in the crowd, in the company of others. In our society, reading the signs of the times and reading people through the lens of social science has made many of us smugly confident that we can fit people into constructed categories, only to discover that individual differences and the uniqueness of every human being can conflict with our preconceived stereotypes. That conflict unsettles our confidence in what we once knew as "certain," "typical," and "familiar." We then realize the depth and scope of human nature, which cannot be simply sorted into binary oppositions — black and white, clean and dirty, royal and beggar, right and wrong. As the narrator discovers, each person is uniquely designed and complex in nature. In the words of Mazurek:

"So we have a story in which nothing is to be divulged but the undivulged, in which the hidden secret that is pursued is finally revealed as that which cannot be revealed. Not surprisingly, the narrator's discovery of ambiguity is itself ambiguous; the tale, which begins and ends with statements about unfathomable mystery, turns in upon itself." (12:25–28)

Character Analysis

The story features an unnamed narrator who begins his observations by categorizing people in the crowd from his seat near the window of an unnamed London coffee shop, while recovering from an unnamed illness. In his fascination with how people remain alone and isolated despite belonging to a crowd, the narrator decides to classify each person he sees outside. As the day draws to a close, his focus shifts to a "decrepit old man" he estimates to be sixty-five to seventy years old — a man he cannot categorize at all. The old man possesses a "peculiar idiosyncrasy," and the narrator proceeds to describe his short stature, feebleness, and other physical characteristics, noting that he wears "filthy, ragged clothes of a beautiful texture."

The narrator then decides to follow the old man through countless crowded places — bazaars, shops — where the man buys nothing and aims to obtain nothing, until he ventures deeper into the poorest areas of the city and back again to the crowded street at the "heart of the mighty London." The narrator follows the old man until the next day, finally concluding that the man does not fit any category he has constructed. He ultimately thinks the man is a "type and genius of deep crime," noting characteristics such as an unsettling and disturbed demeanor, a hidden dagger within his clothes, and his inability to leave the crowd of London — perhaps out of fear of being hunted for a past crime, or perhaps because solitude would expose him to authorities or those who knew of his deeds.

The narrator categorizes the old man as "inscrutable" — a misfit, not common, not typical, but deviant. The central conflict arises when the narrator, confident in his ability to read every person in the crowd by external signs, fails to identify this one old man — a contradiction beyond the narrator's range of typology. It is this curiosity and obsession to solve the mystery surrounding the old man's personality that leads the narrator to explore the darker and deeper side of London's landscape, only to find that — despite successfully following the old man — he still cannot "fit" him into any known category.

Poe discloses a disparity between the narrator and the object of his obsession: the secure, confident man-of-his-time on one side, and the deviant, unknown, feeble figure on the other. Yet the author also reveals that the narrator and the old man are, in essence, one and the same person — signifying the dual personality of an individual within that kind of society. The narrator himself pursues his own "unknown" side in vain. As Poe writes:

"And here, long, amid the moment increasing confusion, did I persist in my pursuit of the stranger. But, as usual, he walked to and fro, and during the day did not pass from out of the turmoil of that street. And, as the shades of the second evening came on, I grew wearied unto death, and stopping fully in front of the wanderer, gazed at him steadfastly in the face. He noticed me not, but resumed his solemn walk, while I, ceasing to follow, remained absorbed in contemplation. This old man is the type and the genius of deep crime. He refuses to be alone. He is the man of the crowd. It will be in vain to follow; for I shall learn no more of him, nor of his deeds. The worst heart of the world is a grosser book than the Hortulus Animae, and perhaps it is but one of the great mercies of God that er lasst sich nicht lesen" — it does not permit itself to be read.

Theme

The short story deals with the paradox of duality: the crowd that can be easily read, and the individual mysteries that lurk within it. It addresses the predictability of characters as well as the unpredictability of certain aspects of personality. The story shows the two sides of human nature — the readable and the unreadable, the typical and the uncategorized; the merriment of the city and the loneliness of the periphery; the grandeur and affluence of the center and the misery and poverty of the margins.

The story suggests that within the predictability of things, there is always a phenomenon of unpredictability — always room for mystery, always an instance in anyone's life that cannot be fathomed or interpreted, and thus "does not permit itself to be read." Human mystery, especially deep loneliness and fear, can be veiled not by hiding in isolation but by hiding in the crowd. This is the paradox embodied by the old man: so afraid of being alone that he must remain among people for the rest of his life.

Setting and Historical Context

Historically, the short story was written in 1840, when London was at the peak of a population boom. The city's population grew steadily throughout the century, prompting wealthy men to build estates and towns to accommodate the growing populace. London's phenomenal growth was attributed to an influx of migrants seeking employment, political refugees, and merchants. Establishments in the city became favored spots for business transactions, Vanity Fairs, theatrical attractions, and other amusement venues — the very environment in which the narrator watches the crowd from his coffee shop window.

As the city grew, so did goods, vices, and crime. London had two faces: progressive yet poverty-stricken; overcrowded yet profoundly lonely. Poverty, misery, and the fear of the unknown — all veiled through the act of mixing into the crowd — are central to this story. As a social structure, London produced a large clerical workforce; clerks were an obvious occupational type and a defining feature of the metropolitan economy. Although much of the population was working class, nobles and wealthy merchants also moved through upper-class social circles, though they were vastly outnumbered by the city's poorest residents.

In psychology, the pseudosciences of physiognomy and phrenology — which claimed to reveal character through physical appearance — influenced the author's perspective in classifying people within the story. The popularity of written text appearing throughout the modern urban landscape of the time also influenced the writer's literary representations: a person could be read like a written text, and a text could be likened to an image that could be categorized. In the context of social and cultural milieu, Poe presented the irony of his own culture — a social world grounded in increasing fragmentation, class division, and human isolation.

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