The Man of the Crowd

The motif of clothing is associated with the narrator’s attempts to read and classify the people he observes in the London streets. The type of clothing a person wears marks their social status and values, and the variety of styles the narrator observes shows the numerous types of people that populate modern cityscapes.

The narrator’s repeated discussions of clothing advance the theme of the Anonymity of City Life. While it seems easy for the narrator to classify the individuals in the crowd according to their social class based on their clothing, he ultimately learns nothing more about them and only speculates about their identities based on arbitrary clues. One example of this is his discussion of the two types of clerks: the “junior clerks” have “tight coats and bright boots” (Paragraph 6), whereas the seemingly older “upper clerks” wear “coats and pantaloons […] with white cravats and waistcoats, broad and solid-looking shoes, and thick hose or garters” (Paragraph 7). The narrator observes that the younger clerks seem to be interested in fashion, whereas the older clerks are interested in “respectability” (Paragraph 7), but he discerns nothing about them as individuals—only as general categories. Through the eyes of the protagonist, it can be argued that city life divides people into different classes based on wealth and status but ultimately robs them of any individualism: They are, first and foremost, members of their social class, as indicated by their possessions and superficial physical traits.

The lack of detail the narrator learns about these individuals also highlights The Complexity of the Human Mind by calling into question whether city life allows people to obscure that complexity by offering endless ways for people to hide themselves and their activities. For example, the desire to blend in with the crowd is evident in the old man, as his anxiety grows whenever he is apart from the crowd. However, his appearance makes him stand apart from them, while other members of the crowd dress in a way that helps them blend in with the social class and groups with which they identify.

A large and well-known city that experienced much industrialization in the 19th century, London was in some ways the quintessential representation of modern urban spaces during Poe’s time. Due to its size, rapid expansion, and population growth, London is an ideal setting for a piece of Gothic fiction about secrecy.

Founded by the Romans in 47 AD, London is much older than any of the American cities in which Poe lived and wrote. During his lifetime, it was also one of the largest cities in the world. This dense population promoted growth as well as disease, which can be seen reflected in the protagonist’s illness mentioned at the beginning of the story. While considered a place of tradition and ceremony, London’s rapid industrialization meant that it was also a place where ancient and modern constantly clashed. In this way, the city embodies the historical transition and change of the 19th century. By setting the story in London, Poe associates the anonymity of city life with modernity, highlighting how the recent expansion of cities affected the people who lived within them.