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The Narrator
The old man is a mysterious figure who leads the narrator on a long, strange pursuit through the streets of London. Nothing is known about the old man’s past, his motives, or the dark secrets the narrator assumes he has. He is an intentionally ambiguous and confusing character—an embodiment of the unknown. In particular, his bizarre and contradictory facial expression attracts the narrator’s curiosity and makes his mind run wild. The old man is assumed to be hiding a terrible secret or past crime, but little evidence actually points to this being the case, except perhaps the glinting object beneath his clothing, which might be either a stolen diamond or a dagger. This is just one of many ambiguities and contradictions that make up his character—he’s carrying either a weapon or a beautiful gemstone; his clothing is dirty but seems high-quality; he’s surrounded by other people but clearly alone in his own troubled mind. Because his main purpose in the story is to ignite the narrator’s curiosity, it’s almost as if he’s hardly even a character in his own right, almost becoming a projection of the narrator’s overactive imagination. The old man is just one unusual figure in a sea of thousands; he’s “the man of the crowd,” and his existence implies that anyone in the vast city could be hiding something. But, of course, he might not be hiding anything terrible at all, despite his strange behavior. It’s this final bit of ambiguity that lets the reader decide what to make of the old man and, by extension, the narrator.
The Old Man Quotes in The Man of the Crowd
The The Man of the Crowd quotes below are all either spoken by The Old Man or refer to The Old Man. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Man of the Crowd Quotes
Now and then, alas, the conscience of man takes up a burden so heavy in horror that it can be thrown down only into the grave. And thus the essence of all crime is undivulged.
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Any thing even remotely resembling that expression I had never seen before. I well remember that my first thought, upon beholding it, was that Retzch, had he viewed it, would have greatly preferred it to his own pictural incarnations of the fiend.
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His clothes, generally, were filthy and ragged; but as he came, now and then, within the strong glare of a lamp, I perceived that his linen, although dirty, was of beautiful texture; and my vision deceived me, or, through a rent in a closely-buttoned and evidently second-handed roquelaire which enveloped him, I caught a glimpse of both a diamond and of a dagger.
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By and by he passed into a cross street, which, although densely filled with people, was not quite so much thronged as the main one he had quitted. Here a change in his demeanor became evident. He walked more slowly and with less object than before —more hesitatingly.
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“This old man,” I said at length, “is the type and the genius of deep crime. He refuses to be alone. He is the man of the crowd. It will be in vain to follow, for I shall learn no more of him, nor his deeds.”
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The Old Man Character Timeline in The Man of the Crowd
The timeline below shows where the character The Old Man appears in The Man of the Crowd. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Man of the Crowd
...defies the easy categorization that he’s been applying to everyone else. This person is an old man wearing a bizarre facial expression that completely bewilders the narrator. The expression seems to contain...
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...narrator immediately pulls on his overcoat and steps out into the street, beginning to follow the old man while being careful not to attract his attention. As he gets a closer look, he...
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...and confusing pursuit through the streets of London. For hours, he doggedly follows the strange old man through the main thoroughfare, down several side streets and alleys, and through various locations ranging...
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During this pursuit, the old man ’s behavior changes occasionally, but it becomes no less bewildering. He passes in and out...
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Eventually, the narrator and the old man reach the main thoroughfare where it all began, and the pursuit continues in the same...
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The narrator stops following, and remarks to himself that he can learn nothing of this old man or his dark secrets. He concludes that the man is “the type and the genius...
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