“The Gold-Bug” is one of Poe’s finest short stories, though perhaps not his very best.  It is included in collections of Poe’s short stories, but it isn’t necessarily read in classrooms and universities across America as are some of his more famous works.    

Not a Tale of Madness 

“The Gold-Bug”  stands out in that it appears to be one type of Poe short story, a Gothic horror with demented and disturbed characters, but then turns into something else; namely, a detective story.  In fact, the short story has many layers and bears several readings to penetrate its complexity. 

“The Gold-Bug” has all the motifs of Edgar Allan Poe’s work, an unnamed narrator, and a character with (apparently) severe psychological disturbance, in this case William Legrand, the narrator’s friend.  Similar to “The Fall of the House of Usher,” in this case it is not the narrator that is mad, but rather his friend.  Meanwhile, in Poe’s most famous short story “The Tell-Tale Heart,” it is the narrator himself who suffers extreme mental disturbance.  

The narrator’s description of Legrand places Legrand in the tradition of disturbed characters in Poe’s other fiction, such as Roderick Usher or the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart”: 

“I found him well-educated, with unusual powers of mind, but infected with misanthropy, and subject to perverse moods of alternate enthusiasm and melancholy” (221).  

After Legrand has discovered the map of the pirate’s treasure, the narrator’s impression of Legrand’s strangeness only grows: 

“His countenance was pale even to ghastliness, and his deep-set eyes glared with unnatural lustre.” (228) 

Only later do we learn that Legrand is not mad at all, rather he has hit upon something that would have seemed otherwise impossible (spoiler incoming); which is that a “gold” bug in the shape of a beetle is a clue to a buried pirate’s treasure.  Interestingly, Legrand chooses not to share with his mystified companions that he’s searching for a treasure, and instead leaves them to infer that he has lost his mind, and wants Jupiter to climb a tree and find a skull for no apparent reason. 

“The Gold-Bug” seems to be a tale of madness, yet instead it turns out that not only is Legrand not mad, he’s a kind of genius as he explains how he deciphered the pirate’s encrypted message, written in a fashion of invisible ink (this passage points to Poe’s genius too). 

Trigger Warning 

The character Jupiter, a former slave, makes “The Gold-Bug” permanently unsalvageable in the era of sensitivity readers. Perhaps that makes “The Gold-Bug” special in that it cannot be coopted in our current cultural milieu, but rather stands as a testament of 19th century literary genius. Yes, that’s right, snowflakes, “The Gold-Bug” contains a stereotype, as well as the word “Negro,” which shouldn’t be too shocking considering the time of publication.  

The Wikipedia entry for “The Gold-Bug” refers to Jupiter’s characterization as “stereotypical and racist” and quotes Poe scholar Scott Peeples as describing Jupiter as a “minstrel show caricature.”  Wikipedia complains that Jupiter is shown as lacking in intelligence and “superstitious.”  This is true. But we likewise here of such superstitious behavior from slaves in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Could it not be based on some observable reality?   

Jupiter is the bumbling yet well-meaning former slave and current assistant to Legrand.  To the extent that there is humor in “The Gold-Bug,” and there is indeed humor, Jupiter tends to be the butt of the jokes, though the narrator’s sense of irony also has a particular wit.  For example, Jupiter is quite at a loss to understand the high-falutin language of the narrator: 

“...what fortunate circumstance am I able to attribute a visit from you to-day?” the narrator asks Jupiter.  

“What de matter, massa?” is Jupiter ingenuous response (227).  

Nowadays, a person of color would simply not be portrayed as such in any form of media, though it seems likely that Poe’s rendering of Jupiter’s phonetic speech was probably based on his experience in the South not long after slavery had been abolished.  Let’s call Jupiter’s speech a phonetic rendering of what is now called “African American Vernacular.”  Even black writers such as Robert Wright or Toni Morrison have employed this type of dialectical dialogue.  We can’t seriously be suggesting that a frankly much better writer such as Poe is not allowed to do so? 

Nonetheless, Jupiter is quite happy to stay on to assist Legrand, and is at one point referred to as “grinning ear to ear” (222) while preparing dinner for him and the narrator.  Clearly Jupiter feels real affection and a protectiveness with regards to Legrand.  As he is a former slave, leftist critics would likewise find this problematic.  But as for the manner of speech of Jupiter and his loyalty for his former master, these are likely elements that Poe observed and simply transposed in this character.  The art, one assumes, is true to life, at least life in 1848, when slavery was still in existence. 

Return to Fortune

One might also think about the story as one of redemption for a former slave owner.  Poe was not exactly sympathetic to the cause of abolition.  Therefore, it might seem just to him that a character such as Legrand should have his fortune restored in a post-slavery South: 

“This bug is to make my fortune” he continued with a triumphant smile; “to reinstate me in my family possessions.” (229) 

The Reveal 

In the conclusion of the story, when the narrator tells Legrand, “I was sure you were mad” (229), Legrand finally explains: 

“Why, to be frank, I felt somewhat annoyed by your evident suspicions touching my sanity, and so resolved to punish you quietly, in my own way, by a little bit of sober mystification” (229). 

Additionally, the narrator insulted Legrand when he disparaged his drawing of the scarabaeus, noting at that time Legrand’s “ill humor” (224).  Legrend certainly doesn’t bother to tell Jupiter that he’s on a treasure hunt; the narrator is likewise left in the dark. Jupiter earnestly fears for his “massa’s” sanity, and holds “de bug” somewhat in awe himself; clearly attaching supernatural powers to it.   

At least, Legrand tells the narrator in the letter that they had to see him on a matter “of the highest importance” (227).  Then Legrand leads him to believe that he thinks the bug itself is gold, rather than the bug serving merely as one piece in a larger puzzle of the treasure hunt.  However, from there he prefers to keep his companions quite mystified.  To put it in modern parlance, Lagrend was trolling them. 

Works Cited 

Poe, Edgar Allan.  Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. NY: Pocket Books, 1951.  

“The Gold-Bug.” Wikipedia.  Accessed June 7, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gold-Bug

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