Thou Art the Man

Poe is the master of unreliable narration and deceptive oratory. So, should we believe him when he professes to exonerate the innocent and illuminate the guilty? " Thou Art the Man" (1844) is an early detective story by the man who is often credited with inventing the detective fiction genre. Alarm spreads when Barnabas Shuttleworthy' s horse returns home without him. A search is begun and an accusation soon follows. The tribulations of the accused man and his road to redemption are depicted in a macabre way inviting a good dose of gallows humor into the narrative mix. This macabre Poe concoction has received little attention and less praise. " Thou Art the Man" clearly shows that artful rhetoric ultimately – and always – leads to truth.