Analysis Of ' The Big Sleep ' And G.k. Chesterton's Innocence Of Father Brown

“Works of literature often depict acts of betrayal. Friends and even family may betray a protagonist; main character may likewise be guilty of treachery of may betray their own values.”

The author of The Big Sleep wrote this novel to expose the immortality and degeneracy of American society. Throughout the novel, everyone seems to have been corrupted in one way or another; even the police and media seem to be corrupt since the police can be bribed and the newspaper hide the truth and make up their own version of the story. The author shows the dishonesty of the media when Marlowe states, “It was a nice write-up. It gave the impression that Geiger had been killed the night before, that Brody had been killed about an hour later, and that Captain Cronjager had solved both murders while lighting a cigarette. The suicide of Taylor made Page One of Section II (Chandler, page 118-119).” This statement tells the reader that the media has kept many details from the public. Even Marlowe is depicted as slightly corrupt when he kept important details and events from the law. The novel is

“Money is a mechanism for control,” a quote by American author David Korten that thoroughly describes how the many characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby used their wealth to stabilize the control of their lives. This wealth played an important role during its time, the early 20th century, by making a point of dividing certain social classes, putting the false belief that money brings one an absolute happiness, and aiding in the rise and fall of people’s legacy.

The detective genre is recognizable by the mystery that it represents or establishes. Every word of a fiction novel is chosen with a purpose, and that purpose on a detective novel is to create suspense. The excerpts from The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, Murder Is My Business by Lynette Prucha, and Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley, create an atmosphere of suspense and mystery. Even though they all fit into this category, there are some differences that make each novel unique. The imagery that the authors offer in the excerpts helps the reader to distinguish the similarities and the differences.

Wealth has often consumed the lives people in the past, corrupting them and causing people to make bad decisions due to this greed. Wealth and greed will continue to take over others’ lives for as long as the human race still exists. The desire for wealth and greed as shown in the The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald by some characters’ intense obsession with money, lavish lifestyles, and their sense of entitlement, ultimately putting other characters in harm’s way.

In the book “The Great Gatsby” wealth affects the lives of many characters in the book, examples of these characters are; Daisy,Tom, and Gatsby. All these characters either had a dream to become wealthy, bribed people, or just cared about money, not love.Because of their obsession with wealth this led to many problems with other characters, showing the bad traits of others, and overall showing how wealth can almost always have a negative effect on a person.

Throughout the history of mankind, money has always been the prime motivator for people. Its possession meant higher placement in society; with money you could virtually get away with anything. During the 1930’s especially, the need for money was universal due to the Great Depression, which was hovering over the economical balance in the United States. Greed created a cycle of corruption within the society, where if one had money, they could pay the money to the ‘right’ people who were in need of it to find a way that the wealthy could get away with their crimes, which was exactly what others were chasing. Raymond Chandler challenges and reflects upon these beliefs in his novel, “The Big Sleep”. In a society where greed is developed in

Wealth can develop a unique interpretation upon a person’s life and can impact their future. Wealth can be such a strong impact on someone that can determine whether they’re selfish or a given person. Wealth can definitely be overpowering and misleading, which could portray their true identity. In the historical fiction novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it shows us how misleading wealth can be in a person’s life.

"Greed, as distinguished from honest reward for labor, leads to corruption. To fatten oneself on it is to be compromised."(Lathbury 64). Several characters in The Great Gatsby struggle with their obsessions with wealth. Their lives depend upon their money and what it can do for them. These obsessions lead to greed, and to the corruption of relationships and lives. In F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby, the obsession with wealth leads to issues for many characters.

The world is full of powerful forces that control people from all corners of the globe, but one of the most powerful and far-reaching force is money. Money is something that controls multiple people's lives and their decisions, sometimes people revolve their lives around money. Just like in the real world, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, money is a large concept in the book and is a motivator for multiple characters. The Great Gatsby is about Nick as he follows the story of Jay Gatsby and his quest to gain money and uses theses riches to win over his past lover, Daisy. Gatsby is not the only character that uses money to get his way or is materialistic, as multiple

Even if one feels they may have 'gotten away ' with a crime, the weight of a person’s conscience cannot be concealed. In someone’s life, too much power and control combined with a person’s conscience in a person’s life can and will lead to an imbalance and perhaps insanity as in the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates how the narrator in this story goes through the greed and need for control, leading to his insanity that results in extreme guilt.

In Raymond Chandler’s novel The Big Sleep, a private detective is trying to unravel a blackmailing case for a dying millionaire, General Sternwood. Philip Marlowe, the detective, finds that the case not only involves blackmail, but also homicide. Set and written in 1930’s America, the economic devastation of the Great Depression has a significant influence on the book’s plot, and showcases character’s struggle to retain honor and virtue in a world that revolves around profit-seeking delinquency and organized corruption. Marlowe’s work as a private detective brings him face to face with criminals of every variety, and each corresponds to a piece on the chessboard that appears repeatedly in the story. Marlowe’s symbolic identity is the well-intentioned knight, who represents the shred of chivalry that remains in a society of pawns and crooked kings, and the chess game is his combat against crime in a period of national despondency.

The novel “The Big Sleep” by Raymond Chandler was published in 1939 during the heart of the Great Depression. The novel is written in a very sinister, dark and kind of a gangster tone and carries much of the cynicism of 1930s America. The Big Sleep is a story of intrigue, corruption, delinquency and obliquity with a rather complex plot which can be very confusing. The main character in “the Big Sleep” is the private detective Philip Marlow who is very masculine man with values and a good moral. His strong moral is often evidenced throughout the novel. Marlowe is the only one in this complex world who cannot be corrupted because the other characters are all described as sleazy,

While American and British authors developed the two distinct schools of detective fiction, known as “hard-boiled and “golden age,” simultaneously, the British works served to continue traditions established by earlier authors while American works formed their own distinct identity. Though a niche category, detective works reflect the morality and culture of the societies their authors lived in. Written in the time period after World War I, Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon and “The Gutting of Couffignal”, and Raymond Chandler’s “Trouble Is My Business” adapt their detectives to a new harsh reality of urban life. In “hard-boiled” works, the detective is more realistic than the detective in “golden age” works according to the

World War II brought a new era for women since they took over the job force as men were fighting in the war. Soon, women were successfully engaging in jobs that were once believed could only be done by men. However, once the war was over there was an expectation that women would give their jobs back to the men. With some women resisting to return to their traditional pink-collar domestic, secretarial, and industrial positions, ubiquitous images of propaganda still recognized today symbolize this idea. “Rosie the Riveter” is a primary example as her image radiates competence and power, which were traits associated with masculinity and were not appropriate in women. As society’s view on women began to change and broaden, characteristics that were stereotypically male accommodated this new idea of femininity and attractiveness. Henry Hawk’s film production of The Big Sleep (Warner Brothers, 1946) and Raymond Chandler’s novel, The Big Sleep highlights the changes in social construction of the portrayal of women in the form of female empowerment and its involvement in a predominately-male society.