32 pages • 1 hour read
Edgar Allan PoeThe Gold Bug
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1843A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Gold Bug
On one level, the eponymous gold bug is a symbol of new opportunity and prosperity. When Legrand discovers the scarabaeus, he proclaims that it is a “totally new” species, calling it “the loveliest thing in creation” (8). Poe pays a lot of attention to detailing the beetle’s appearance, especially it’s coloring, which emits a “brilliant metallic luster” (9). At the start of the story, the bug appears as almost magical or supernatural. Characters repeatedly refer to the beetle’s unusual shade of gold, with Legrand describing it as “a brilliant gold color” (8), and the narrator saying it has “all the appearance of burnished gold” (14). The luminescent appearance of the bug symbolizes wealth and promise, with Legrand viewing the bug as auspicious of the return of his former fortune, claiming it will “reinstate me in my family possessions” (14).
Jupiter, whom Poe portrays as unintelligent, conflates the appearance of gold with the substance of gold. Jupiter is convinced that the gold bug is “solid, ebery bit of him, inside and all, sep him wing —neber feel half so hebby a bug in my life” (9). However, Poe reinforces the adage that “all that glitters is not gold” as the story progresses. The author reveals that the bug is not the true source of value. Instead, the most precious thing is the old scrap of parchment that Jupiter wraps the beetle in, which contains the encrypted location of the buried treasure. Legrand, irritated by the narrator’s doubts about his state of mind, continues to pretend to be fixated on the bug like it is some sort of talisman, playing to the narrator’s fears in order to punish him. Therefore, the gold bug also comes to be a symbol of deceptive appearances.
In addition, Poe creates a sense of foreboding by linking the gold bug and the image of a skull. When Legrand first describes the bug to the narrator, he says that it has “two jet black spots near one extremity of the back, and another, somewhat longer, at the other” (8). The arrangements of black shapes that Legrand recounts mirror the description of a skull: two black spots at the tops for eyes and a longer black spot at the bottom as a mouth. Not only this, but when the parchment is heated and the invisible ink revealed, the bug is replaced by the image of a pirate skull. The narrator comments that he “never saw anything like it before—unless it was a skull, or a death’s-head” (9). The similarities that Poe draws between the bug and a skull gives its previously positive presentation a twist. The image Poe leaves us with is that of a bad omen and reflecting the manipulation and murder that Legrand hypothesizes went into ensuring the location of Kidd’s treasure remained a secret.
Skulls
As Legrand neatly summarizes, “the skull, or death’s-head, is the well-known emblem of the pirate. The flag of the death’s-head is hoisted in all engagements” (26). The skull is a symbol of a piracy and when paired with crossbones on a black background, it is known as a “Jolly Roger,” the most recognized pirate flag.
In literature, the skull appears widely in motifs of death and mortality whilst, more widely, the skull has been used as a warning for poison. In 1829, New York State decreed that all poisonous substances required labeling, and the skull and crossbones have been used for this purpose since the 1850s.
However, Poe employs skulls as more complex symbols than simply harbingers of death and disaster. Captain Kidd chooses to mark the treasure’s location on the map with a skull and a corresponding skull is hidden in the tulip tree to signify the gold is close. Coincidentally, the gold bug’s markings are also very similar to the shape of a skull. Poe inverts the symbolism of the skull to represent the wealth and opportunity that discovering the treasure represents.
The opposing symbolic values of the skull, with its traditional connotations of death and Poe’s use of it to represent fortune, converge at the end of the story with the discovery of two human skeletons in close proximity to the treasure. Through Legrand’s hypothesis that the skeletons are two of Captain Kidd’s crew that were murdered to keep the location of the treasure secret, and the ambiguity of the story’s ending, Poe reflects on the lengths that people will go to in order to protect or gain a fortune. The conclusion of the tale suggests that both the pursuit of gold, as well as its selfish preservation, is toxic and can result in destruction.
Treasure
A symbol of fortune and prosperity beyond its monetary value, treasure is a prominent symbol in “The Gold-Bug.” Poe describes the discovery of the treasure as a wonder: “As the rays of the lanterns fell within the pit, there flashed upwards, from a confused heap of gold and of jewels, a glow and a glare that absolutely dazzled our eyes” (23). Just as the treasure seems to “glow” and “glare,” illuminating the dark, earthy pit where it resides, and its existence finally helps to explain Legrand’s bizarre behavior. The buried gold therefore reveals the truth of Legrand’s obsessions.
The connection between gold and truth is an important one. When Poe was writing “The Gold-Bug,” the American economy was changing dramatically, shifting to a paper- based monetary system from the established currency based on silver and gold. Significant concern existed about this change, and, with very unreliable exchange rates, many people were unwilling to trust the concept of paper money. Gold was something physical that could be weighed and measured, whilst paper holds no tangible worth and is easily damaged. The discovery of the shining treasure reflects gold’s longevity–in contrast to paper’s fragility. The three characters decide to retain the treasure in its existing state, rather than exchanging it for its equivalent monetary value, suggesting that the author sees true value in the traditional use of gold as currency.
However, Poe crafts the concept of treasure as more than one of wealth. At the beginning of the story, Poe informs the reader that Legrand was from a once-wealthy family but that a series of misfortunes led him to lose everything and relocate to avoid further shame caused by the family’s reduced circumstances. Legrand tells the narrator that the bug will “reinstate me in my family possessions” (14). However, Legrand not only means that the treasure will allow him to recoup many times his original wealth, but that it will also allow him to restore his family’s good name. For Legrand, the real treasure is in the reassurance that he will be able undo the damage to his family’s reputation and retake his place in society.
Related Titles
By Edgar Allan Poe
