The Oblong Box (short story)
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"The Oblong Box" is a
short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
by American writer
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
, first published in 1844, about a sea voyage and a mysterious box.


Plot summary

The story opens with the unnamed
narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...
recounting a summer sea voyage from
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
, to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
aboard the ship ''Independence''. The narrator learns that his old college friend Cornelius Wyatt is aboard with his wife and two sisters, though he has reserved three state-rooms. After conjecturing the extra room was for a servant or extra baggage, he learns his friend has brought on board an oblong pine box: "It was about six feet in length by two and a half in breadth." The narrator notes its peculiar shape and especially an odd odor coming from it. Even so, he presumes his friend has acquired an especially valuable copy of
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
's ''
The Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
''. The narrator has never met Wyatt's wife but heard she is a woman of "surpassing beauty, wit, and accomplishment". The box, the narrator is surprised to learn, shares the state-room with Wyatt and his wife, while the second room is shared by the two sisters. For several nights, the narrator witnesses his friend's surprisingly unattractive wife leaving the state-room every night around 11 o'clock and going into the third state-room before returning first thing in the morning. While she is gone, the narrator believes he hears his friend opening the box and sobbing, which he attributes to "artistic enthusiasm". As the ''Independence'' passes
Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. Long stretches of beach, sand dunes, marshes, and maritime forests create a unique environment where wind and waves shape ...
it is caught in a terrible
hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
. Escape from the damaged ship is made via
lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...
, but Wyatt refuses to part with the box. He issues an emotional plea to Captain Hardy but is denied. Wyatt returns to the ship, and ties himself to the box with a rope. "In another instant both body and box were in the sea—disappearing suddenly, at once and forever." About a month after the incident, the narrator happens to meet the captain. Hardy explains that the box had, in fact, held the corpse of Wyatt's recently deceased young wife. He had intended to return the body to her mother but bringing a corpse on board would have caused panic among the passengers. Captain Hardy had arranged, then, to register the box merely as baggage. As both Wyatt and his wife were already registered as passengers, a maid posed as the wife so as not to arouse suspicion.


Background

In writing "The Oblong Box", Poe recalled his experience while stationed as a soldier at
Fort Moultrie Fort Moultrie is a series of fortifications on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and n ...
many years earlier by setting the ship's embarking point as
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
to New York. The Charleston area is also referenced in Poe's stories "
The Gold-Bug "The Gold-Bug" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe published in 1843. The plot follows William Legrand, who was bitten by a gold-colored bug. His servant Jupiter fears that Legrand is going insane and goes to Legrand's friend, an ...
" and "
The Balloon-Hoax "The Balloon-Hoax" is the title used in collections and anthologies of a newspaper article by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1844 in ''The Sun'' newspaper in New York. Originally presented as a true story, it detailed Europe ...
". Just a few months before the publication of "The Oblong Box", Poe experienced his own sea voyage when he moved to New York via
steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
. His wife,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, had begun showing signs of her illness about two years before in 1842. "The Oblong Box" was in part based on the murder of Samuel Adams by
John C. Colt John Caldwell Colt (March 1, 1810 – November 18, 1842), the brother of Samuel Colt of Colt firearm fame, was an American fur trader, bookkeeper, law clerk, and convicted murderer. He served briefly as a U.S. Marine, forging a letter to g ...
, brother of
Sam Colt Samuel Colt (; July 19, 1814 – January 10, 1862) was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company (now Colt's Manufacturing Company) and made the mass production of r ...
, a story which dominated the New York press at the time; John C. Colt disposed of Adams' body by putting it in a crate and filling it with salt. The name of the character Wyatt was likely derived from Professor Thomas Wyatt, an author whose work Poe translated in ''
The Conchologist's First Book ''The Conchologist's First Book'' (sometimes subtitled with ''Or, A System of Testaceous Malacology'') is an illustrated textbook on conchology issued in 1839, 1840, and 1845. The book was originally printed under Edgar Allan Poe's name. The text w ...
''.


Publication history

Poe originally offered "The Oblong Box" to
Nathaniel Parker Willis Nathaniel Parker Willis (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867), also known as N. P. Willis,Baker, 3 was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfello ...
for the ''New Mirror'', but Willis suggested it was better suited for the ''
Opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms ...
'', a
gift book Gift books, literary annuals, or keepsakes were 19th-century books, often lavishly decorated, which collected essays, short fiction, and poetry. They were primarily published in the autumn, in time for the holiday season and were intended to be g ...
edited by
Sarah Josepha Hale Sarah Josepha Buell Hale (October 24, 1788April 30, 1879) was an American writer, activist, and editor of ''Godey's Lady's Book''. She was the author of the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Hale famously campaigned for the creation of the ...
.Quinn, Arthur Hobson. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography''. Baltimore: The
Johns Hopkins University Press The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...
, 1998: 417.
It was first published on August 28, 1844, in the ''Dollar Newspaper'' in Philadelphia.Sova, Dawn B. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z''. Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 175. It was also published in the September 1844 issue of '' Godey's Magazine and Lady's Book'', also edited by Hale. The story was also reprinted in ''The Broadway Journal'', in the Saturday, December 13, 1845, edition.


Analysis

Poe biographer James Hutchisson equates "The Oblong Box" with Poe's series of "tales of ratiocination" or
detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...
stories, a series which includes "
The Murders in the Rue Morgue "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in ''Graham's Magazine'' in 1841. It has been described as the first modern detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". C. Auguste Dup ...
". Scott Peeples compares "The Oblong Box" to this genre as well but notes that it is not strictly a detective story because it did not emphasize the character of the detective and his method.Peeples, Scott. ''Edgar Allan Poe Revisited''. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1998: 123. He also notes that the protagonist is "bumbling" because he allows his personal opinions to taint the physical evidence, leading him to incorrect conclusions. In ''On Poe'', scholar J. Gerald Kennedy saw the story as a satire. He wrote, "Though not a major work in the Poe canon, 'The Oblong Box' delivers, through the narrator's grotesque misinterpretations, a clever satiric version of the detective hero."


Adaptations

''NBC Short Story'' aired a dramatic reading of "The Oblong Box" in the 1950s. It is available at
Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
A 1969 film directed by
Gordon Hessler Gordon Hessler (12 December 1925 – 19 January 2014) was a German-born British film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. Biography Early Years Born in Berlin, Germany,Ephraim Katz, Katz, Ephraim. ''The Film Encyclopedia'', Harp ...
starring
Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...
carries the name '' The Oblong Box''. It is a loose adaptation of Poe's story. The ''
CBS Radio Mystery Theater ''CBS Radio Mystery Theater'' (a.k.a. ''Radio Mystery Theater'' and ''Mystery Theater'', sometimes abbreviated as ''CBSRMT'') is a radio drama series created by Himan Brown that was broadcast on CBS Radio Network affiliates from 1974 to 1982, an ...
'', which ran from January 1974 to December 1982, did an adaptation of "The Oblong Box" which aired on January 8, 1975. It is available at archive.org.


References


Sources

* * * * * Walden, Dan. “Ships and Crypts: The Coastal World of Poe's ‘King Pest," ‘The Premature Burial," and ‘The Oblong Box.’” ''The Edgar Allan Poe Review'', vol. 10, no. 2, 2009, pp. 104–21. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41507885. Accessed 1 Dec. 2020.


External links


Publication history of "The Oblong Box"
from th
Edgar Allan Poe Society
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oblong Box 1844 short stories Short stories by Edgar Allan Poe Works originally published in American newspapers Detective fiction short stories Short stories adapted into films