Volume 17 , Issue 16

Walking With Sadie

Woof! Woof! So ... the Goldbugs gathering in Alva, Oklahoma this last weekend was not about the Poe character, William Legrand, who was bitten by a gold colored bug, and took his servant and a friend on an adventure after deciphering a secret message that would lead to a buried treasure. Edgar A. Poe's "The Goldbug," was a short story written in 1843, and published in the "Philadelphia Dollar" newspaper, a media periodical.

What did we learned while doing research on Poe's short story? Did you know that Poe's short story is often compared with Poe's tales of ratiocination (combination of using reason & logic) as an early form of detective fiction. But it really was not detective fiction, in a sense that it did not follow that guideline.

It seems Poe submitted The Gold Bug as an entry to a writing contest sponsored by the "Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper." Poe's story won the grand prize and was published in three installments, beginning in June 1843. The prize included $100, probably the largest single sum Poe received for any of his works. "The Goldbug" was an instant success and was the most popular and most widely read of Poe's works during his lifetime. It also popularized cryptograms and secret writing. Poe became aware of the public's interest in secret writing in 1840 and asked readers to challenge his skills as a code-breaker. He also took advantage of the popularity of cryptography as he was writing "The Gold Bug," and the success of the story centers on one such cryptogram.

The characterization of Legrand's servant, Jupiter, had been criticized as racist from a modern perspective back then, especially because his speech was written in dialect and because of his often comical dialogue.

The actual "gold bug" in the story is not a real insect. Instead, Poe combined characteristics of two insects found in the area where the story takes place. The Callichroma splendidum, (not technically a scarab but a species of longhorn beetle, Cerambycidae), has a gold head and slightly gold-tinted body. The black spots noted on the back of the fictional bug can be found on the Alaus oculatus, a click beetle also native to Sullivan's Island near Charleston, South Carolina.

Poe won the grand prize in addition to winning, the story was published in two installments on June 21 and June 28, 1843, in the newspaper.

Good Night! Good Luck! Woof! Woof!
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