The Gold-Bug by Edgar Allan Poe

First published: 1843

Type of plot: Mystery and detective

Time of work: The 1800's

Locale: Sullivan's Island, South Carolina

Principal Characters:

• William Legrand, a recluse
• The narrator, a physician and friend

The Story

Many years before the story's present, the unnamed narrator of "The Gold-Bug" made friends with William Legrand, a descendant of an old Huguenot family of New Orleans, who now lives in a hut on Sullivan's Island, nine miles from Charleston, South Carolina. Once wealthy, Legrand lost his fortune and now lives a simple life with his Newfoundland dog and one servant, an old black man named Jupiter, a former slave. Well educated, misanthropic, subject to mood swings between enthusiasm and melancholy, Legrand spends his time fishing, exploring the island, and collecting shells and entomological specimens, of which he has many.

One unusually cold day in October, the narrator visits Legrand after an absence of several weeks. As the narrator warms himself by the fire, Legrand enthusiastically tells him about a strange bug he has found, one of a brilliant gold color with three black spots and long antennae. Because he has lent the bug to a soldier from nearby Fort Moultrie, Legrand cannot show the insect itself; instead, he draws a picture of it on a piece of paper he takes from his pocket. As the narrator holds the paper, the dog jumps on him, causing his hand to move close to the fire. When he looks at the drawing, he sees a representation of a skull rather than a bug. Legrand is visibly upset by his friend's reaction, examines the drawing by candle, and then locks it in his desk, saying nothing more. The narrator thinks it prudent not to upset Legrand further and takes his leave.

About a month later, Jupiter delivers a note from Legrand to the narrator in Charleston begging him to come at once. The urgent tone of the note and Jupiter's comments that Legrand is acting strangely and must be ill alarm the narrator. Jupiter insists that Legrand has been bitten by the gold bug. The narrator fears that his friend's mind has become unhinged, especially when he sees the spades and scythe that Jupiter has been told to buy. On returning to Legrand, the narrator is even more fearful. Legrand says that the bug will make his fortune, as though the insect were real gold. He promises that the narrator will understand his excitement if the narrator will accompany him and Jupiter to the mainland on an all-night expedition. The narrator's assistance is needed and he is the only person in whom Legrand can confide. The narrator fears that Legrand has indeed gone mad, but he agrees to Legrand's request.

The party is led by Legrand to an area of densely wooded hills and crags. Using the scythe, Jupiter clears a path as directed to a tall tulip tree. Legrand instructs him to climb the tree, taking the gold bug with him. The narrator is now convinced that Legrand has lost his mind. Jupiter, however, follows instructions, climbs out on the seventh limb, and there finds a skull. Legrand directs him to drop the bug (which is unusually heavy) through the left eye socket of the skull.

After Legrand makes calculations on the ground, the party begins digging but finds nothing. Remembering Jupiter's confusion concerning left and right, Legrand rightly concludes that Jupiter made a mistake. The error is corrected, and digging proceeds in another spot. By now the narrator is beginning to guess that there is method in Legrand's apparent madness. The digging uncovers some human bones and a large chest; inside is a wealth of gold and jewels. After some difficulty in removing the treasure to Legrand's hut, the men examine their wealth, estimating it to be worth a million and a half dollars, an estimate that the narrator says later proved to be much too low.

Once the men's excitement has subsided, Legrand explains how he was able to solve the riddles that led to finding the treasure. The paper on which Legrand had drawn the bug proved to be parchment and therefore nearly indestructible; it was found half-buried near the wreck of a longboat and near the place where the bug was captured. Legrand had wrapped the bug in the parchment in order to carry it home and had put the parchment in his pocket when he lent the bug to the soldier. When the narrator held the parchment near the fire, the heat made visible the drawing of a skull. By using heat, Legrand uncovered additional markings, including the picture of a kid, which he took to stand for the pirate Captain Kidd.

Knowing the persistent rumors in the area concerning Kidd's buried treasure, Legrand was sure he was on to something. Further heating revealed lines of numerals and other notations, forming a cipher. Legrand describes in detail how he broke the code, enabling him to locate the tulip tree and measure to the correct spot for digging. At the end, Legrand admits that dropping the bug through the skull, instead of dropping a bullet as the code directed, was designed to mystify the narrator further. Legrand had been annoyed that his friend doubted his sanity and enjoyed puzzling him. The skeletons found with the treasure, Legrand speculates, were those of Kidd's helpers, whom he did not want to live to tell the secret of the burial place. Thus, by the end of the story, Legrand has explained all the mysteries attending the discovery of the treasure.

Bibliography

Davidson, Edward H. Poe: A Critical Study. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1966. One of the most important philosophic studies of Poe's work. Presents Poe as basically a religious writer in that he becomes his own god, his own supreme maker of prophecies and parables.

Hassell, J. Woodrow, Jr. "The Problem of Realism in ‘The Gold-Bug.'" American Literature 25 (May, 1953): 179-192. Includes a discussion of how fantasy and realism are blended and sometimes in conflict in "The Gold-Bug." Shows how Poe was able to give an appearance of reality to the fanciful elements in the story.

Kempton, Daniel. "The Gold/Goole/Ghoul Bug." Emerson Society Quarterly 33 (1987): 1-19. Interesting study of the basic logical/aesthetic pattern of "The Gold-Bug"; notes that the protagonist of the story looks on the world as if it were an encoded message written for the elect by the hand of God.

Kennedy, J. Gerald. Poe, Death, and the Life of Writing. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1987. A useful study of the nature of writing in Poe's stories and the relationship of writing to death. Important for understanding pattern and interpretation in "The Gold-Bug."

Williams, Michael. "The Language of the Cipher: Interpretation in ‘The Gold-Bug.'" In Edgar Allan Poe: A Study of the Short Fiction, edited by Charles May. New York: Twayne, 1991. Excellent study of Poe's philosophic interest in the power of language and his tactic of embedding interpretative strategies within his stories.