summary of the man of the crowd by edgar allan poe
The Man of the Crowd
After an unnamed illness , the unnamed narrator sits in an unnamed coffee shop in London . Fascinated by the crowd outside the window , he considers how isolated people think they are , despite `` the very denseness of the company around '' . He takes time to categorize the different types of people he sees . As evening falls , the narrator focuses on `` a decrepit old man , some sixty - five or seventy years of age '' , whose face has a peculiar idiosyncrasy , and whose body `` was short in stature , very thin , and apparently very feeble '' wearing filthy , ragged clothes of a `` beautiful texture '' . The narrator dashes out of the coffee shop to follow the man from afar . The man leads the narrator through bazaars and shops , buying nothing , and into a poorer part of the city , then back into `` the heart of the mighty London '' . This chase lasts through the evening and into the next day . Finally , exhausted , the narrator stands in front of the man , who still does not notice him . The narrator concludes the man is `` the type and genius of deep crime '' due to his inscrutability and inability to leave the crowds of London . 
After an unnamed illness , the unnamed narrator sits in an unnamed coffee shop in London . Fascinated by the crowd outside the window , he considers how isolated people think they are , despite `` the very denseness of the company around '' . He takes time to categorize the different types of people he sees . As evening falls , the narrator focuses on `` a decrepit old man , some sixty - five or seventy years of age '' , whose face has a peculiar idiosyncrasy , and whose body `` was short in stature , very thin , and apparently very feeble '' wearing filthy , ragged clothes of a `` beautiful texture '' . The narrator dashes out of the coffee shop to follow the man from afar . The man leads the narrator through bazaars and shops , buying nothing , and into a poorer part of the city , then back into `` the heart of the mighty London '' . This chase lasts through the evening and into the next day . Finally , exhausted , the narrator stands in front of the man , who still does not notice him . The narrator concludes the man is `` the type and genius of deep crime '' due to his inscrutability and inability to leave the crowds of London .
As evening falls, the narrator focuses on `` a decrepit old man, some sixty - five or seventy years of age '', whose face has a peculiar idiosyncrasy, and whose body `` was short in stature, very thin, and apparently very feeble '' wearing filthy, ragged clothes of a `` beautiful texture ''.
In summary, the narrator concludes that  the man is `` the type and genius of deep crime '' due to his inscrutability and inability to leave the crowds of London.
As evening falls , the narrator focuses on `` a decrepit old man , some sixty - five or seventy years of age '' , whose face has a peculiar idiosyncrasy , and whose body `` was short in stature , very thin , and apparently very feeble '' wearing filthy , ragged clothes of a `` beautiful texture '' . The narrator concludes the man is `` the type and genius of deep crime '' due to his inscrutability and inability to leave the crowds of London .