Poe's "The Purloined Letter" artfully reveals both sides of several coins. The primary pairing is between the characters Dupin and Minister D, showing how each is revealed to be a reflection of the other. The letter is central to the tale. Its existence provokes events to unfold.
             The two central characters of the story are disturbingly similar. Both the Minister and Dupin acquire the letter using guile, tact and by swapping the real letter with a replacement. The methods similar, there is minor variation between the two thefts. In the first theft of the letter, the Minister took it in plain sight of the victim and another. He knew the victim, a lady of station, would not raise an alarm as she did not wish to alert the third party who was also present. Dupin's theft was similar as it still required a masterful swapping of letter, but he did it while the Minister was distracted and there was no one else in the room. This variation shows a greater measure of similarity between Dupin and the Minister. The Lady is a person of inaction, while the Minister is a deceptive man of action as said with, "He is, perhaps, the most really energetic human being now alive-but that is only when nobody sees him" (213). While the Minister never appears to take action, even when he is doing something like swapping the letter, neither does Dupin. Poe masterfully uses this minor variation to strengthen the Dupin/Minister pattern.
             A passive tale, all the action is related second hand to the narrator. This passive voice is a tool that is yet another means to reinforce the similarities between Dupin and the Minister. Dupin, like the Minister, does nothing when watched and yet accomplishes what the Prefect fails to do. The story is told in two segments, both with Dupin and the narrator doing little more then sitting in a room. All the action happens 'off camera' and it related second or third hand by the narrator.
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