Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Business Man

Literature speaks volumes about the day to day happenings in life. Much like the age old debate: which came first, the chicken or the egg, one can ask the same question about literary works and life. The two are completely intermingled. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Business Man,” the narrator discusses the truths of being in business and how it affects his life.

Interestingly, the narrator states, “In biography the truth is everything, and it autobiography it is especially so” (414). While this statement may be true, he does not acknowledge that a person’s truth is actually their perception of the truth. The narrator gives a great deal of credit for his success to being “a methodical man” (413). Basically, he is saying that by going to work everyday, doing what he does, he is a “distinguished man of business” (413). However, like many modern employees, he finds reasons to criticize his superiors and the system in general. This criticism is likely due to frustrations that often come with trying to succeed.

Poe’s narrator hates the “genius,” insisting “the greater the genius the greater the ass” (413). He dislikes other men who act on the new trades of the times, such as “those eccentric pursuits” like “the cotton or tobacco trade” (413). Perhaps the reason the narrator hates them is that they have found a successful venture; whereas he has had a string of unfortunate positions.

Much like a modern, blue collar worker, the narrator finds himself frustrated by the nuisances of being the low man on the totem pole. He is angered by the “principle of the thing” with the tailors. He quits his job because he feels he is being cheated out of a penny. He finds no honor in a method which cheats employees.

He blasts the system which allows “rich old hunks” to build a “palace” to compete with the smaller businesses. He knows they can not be stopped. Rather than accept another man’s success as a success, he views it as an attempt to hold him back.

In reality, much of the narrator’s struggle is the result of his unwillingness to pay his dues. Standing on principle is one thing, but principle does not pay the bills. Was a penny really worth his promising future with the tailors, which seems a more respectable position than many of his other money making schemes. In the real world, very few people start at the top. This realization is the first rule of adulthood.

After leaving the tailor, the narrator continues to an Assault and Battery livelihood, which sounds like insurance fraud or extortion. He knows this is wrong as he admits “Money is nothing in comparison with health” (417). Rather than return to a respectable line of work, he opts to “alter my line of business” (417). He attacks his competition with “every ignoramus of a fellow who finds he hasn’t brains in sufficient quantity to make his way as a walking advertiser . . . thinks, of course, that he’ll answer very well as a dabbler of mud” (417). Is the narrator not a dabbler of mud? He constantly attacks others rather than focusing his efforts on himself.

The narrator continues to another line of work, where he scams unsuspecting homeowners for postage in what they think is an important letter. He says “people are such fools” (419). Like many modern employees trying to get ahead, this narrator is negative and focuses his attention on bashing everyone else. His truth is only his perception.