Horse Feathers: The Maltese Falcon

Starting of with “A White Heron”, the story starts with a mellow, quiet mood. Sylvia is walking in the woods with her companion, her cow. Jewett includes words and phrases such as “childish patience” and “the little girl” that makes the reader grasp the idea of Sylvia being a child. The fact that Sylvia hears the whistle of the stranger and hides also show the idea of her being a young child. The first day meeting the stranger, Sylvia seems reserved and not paying much attention to him talking about the white heron, even when he confesses to pay ten dollar for anyone who helps him find it. Soon enough, Sylvia develops a crush on the hunter. She does go in the woods with him for his needs to find the white heron but she does not disclose where the bird could be, it seemed as if she just wanted to enjoy his company. When Sylvia goes on her

Brigid O’Shaughnessy plays the role of femme fatale, meaning “deadly woman” in French, and she uses her femininity to manipulate Sam Spade. For example, Brigid lies to persuade Spade to keep helping her, “And the lie was in the way I said it, and not at all in what I said.” She turned away, no longer holding herself erect. “It is my own fault that you can’t believe me now.” Spade’s face reddened and he looked down at the floor, muttering: “Now you are dangerous” (Hammett 36). Spade acknowledges that she draws him in with her good looks, and that she makes him feel sympathy towards her, which is giving Brigid the upper hand towards Spade. Brigid is described as a very attractive woman in the book, and this is the other way she controls Spade like a puppet. For example, she has control over Spade by sleeping with him, “She puts her hands up to Spade’s cheeks, put her open mouth hard against his mouth, her body flat against his body” (Hammett 89). It can be inferred that after that, they end up sleeping with each other and this is a way that Brigid builds up an emotional connection to Spade, so he will be on her side and trust her more than anyone else. Ultimately, Spade ends up betraying Brigid, and tells the cops about the murders she commits. Spade admits he loves Brigid but it will not keep him from telling the cops about Brigid murdering Archer, “You

Although Jewett and Freeman both have poverty-stricken female protagonists, each women’s intentions are driven by different circumstances. Even though Sylvia’s house is described as “the best thrift of an old-fashioned farmstead, though on such a small scale that it seemed like a hermitage”, being poor is not what prompts Sylvia’s motives. She is driven by animal rights to seize the power to make her own decision to reveal the heron’s location. Whereas, the barn is much nicer than the house that Mother and the children currently live in. Mother interrogates father, stating, “you’re lodgin’ your dumb beasts better than you are your own flesh an’ blood. I want to know if you think it’s right” (C666). The sense of poverty within the decomposing house influences Mother to go against father and make the barn into their new updated living quarters. The circumstances that both protagonists were confronted with fueled their compassion to overcome the obstacles each were faced with.

As a parrot our narrator is forced to come to terms with the fact that no matter how hard he tries to communicate with his wife or other people, it will prove useless and even if the context fit's the conversation, they'd think of it as an humorous coincidence. As our narrator hangs onto and tries to repeat every word to his "wife" says he demonstrates his frustration of being unable to communicate and his yearning for her to realize it is him. Butler also keeps this story very comedic with the fact that he is a bird with a grown man's education and allows him to still think and have emotions similar to a human. Our narrator's wittiness and male pride are still evident in his words no matter how subtle they are. For example, "up, cracker, peanut, open" and even changing the context from "pretty bird to bad bird".

She had got the canary a year ago. When her husband killed the canary it was like killing her last connection to her old world. She snapped and started planning his murder, she saw how the bird’s neck was broken and she broke his. Mrs. Peters says that “somebody-wrung- its-neck.”

Many authors use different styles of writing and different ways to show different things and different types points of views. In the articles The Georges and the Jewels and Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, the authors are both using first person point of view, but using different ways to reveal the character traits. First, In The Georges and the Jewels, the person telling the story is a little girl and also she is talking about her experiences with horses, whereas in Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, the article is being told by a horse, and the horse is telling about his life and about all the equipment that has to be used for him.

Initially, Mrs. Mallard reacts with great sadness over the news of her husband’s death. Knowing that Mrs. Mallard suffers from “heart trouble”, Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister decides to “hint” her the news of Brently’s death in “broken sentences”. Josephine assumes that Mrs. Mallard “[loves]” her husband, and naturally

Once his heart is lifted, he sees the true beauty of nature and it’s true meaning.

One of the women made the comment that Mrs. Wright used to be pretty and happy, when she was Minnie Foster not Minnie Wright. This is just the beginning of realizing that she was just pushed to far into depression and couldn't live up to John Wright's expectations anymore. The Wrights had no children and Mrs. Wright was alone in the house all day long. The women perceive John Wright to be a controlling husband who in fact probably wouldn't have children and this may have upset Mrs. Wright. They eventually find vacant bird cage and ponder upon what happened to the bird, realizing Mrs. Wright was lonely they figured she loved the bird and it kept her company. The women make reference to the fact that Mrs. Wright was kind of like a bird herself, and that she changed so much since she married John Wright. They begin looking for stuff to bring her and they find the bird dead and they realize someone had wrung its neck. This is when they realize Mrs. Wright was in fact pushed to far, John Wright had wrung her bird's neck and in return Minnie Wright wrung his.

When he comes home he has post traumatic stress from the war. He becomes an alcoholic, spending all his time at the bar and wanting to get back the The Bird. Louis plans to go to japan find the bird an kill him. All he can think about is The Bird. But one day in a bar he finds a girl named Cynthia Applewhite they fall in love and get married but she dose not understand Louis PTSD. Louis will have night mares about the bird.

Near the end, Griet’s identity has gone through the process of a young maid to a mature lady. At first, Griet’s opinion held no importance. She does not have a say in anything. This is evident when she says, “ ‘ What would I think, madam?’”(157). Griet has certainly developed an opinion, but not the courage to speak it in front of others. She is aware of her status as a maid. This changes throughout the course of the novel. Griet does develop the courage to take the decision of her life as well as carry it out. “ ‘I did not pick up the knife. I turned and walked from the room’”(215). This quote illustrates Griet’s ability to make and carry out decisions. She is not going to tolerate any wrong accusations, and she has learned to take a stand for herself. This change occurs due to Vermeer and his art. Somewhere in between, Griet realizes that she has had enough, and she’s not going to let anyone come and accuse her of doing something she didn’t do. Vermeer and his paintings made Griet feel that she does hold importance, and no one has the right to accuse her wrongfully.

In Dashiell Hammet’s The Maltese Falcon, the "black bird" serves as a crucial link connecting Sam Spade and Brigid O’ Shaughnessy. The black bird functions as the structural bond of Spade and Brigid’s relationship because it represents their greed and desire for wealth. Hammet points out that the Brigid’s greed for the bird causes her to utilize detective Spade as a tool: "Help me, Mr. Spade. Help me because I need help so badly, and because if you don’t where will I find anyone who can, no matter how willing?" (Hammet 35). This quotation illustrates Brigid’s submissiveness and dependency on Mr. Spade to help her. But later she becomes the dominant figure when she utilizes her monetary wealth to her advantage: “She opened

As the ladies examine the house, while the men are other places, picking clothes and an apron up for Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale gains sympathy for her until finally she starts to take action. When they find the block of quilting that has stitching askew, she starts to fix it, perhaps to cover for Mrs. Wright?s distraught state of mind. While Mrs. Hale is finding sympathy for Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Peters offers a counterpoint that tries to justifies the men?s viewpoints and actions. Her comments to Mrs. Hale?s resentful musings on Mrs. Wright?s unhappy life and on the actions of men in regards to women in general all seem to be rote answers programmed into her by society and a desire not to cause any trouble. This all changes as soon as Mrs. Peters finds the bird.

Hammett brings the reader into the life of Spade with the introduction of Miss Wonderly and her fictitious story concerning her sister and Mr. Thursby. The plot is quickly twisted with the murders of Archer and Thursby and the blame lands right on Spade’s doorstep. The plot of the story, almost in its entirety, is revealed by chapter 6. In chapter 7, titled “In the air”, Spade and Brigid are alone in his apartment awaiting the arrival of Cairo. With no other context or background Spade begins to tell Brigid “about a thing that had happened some years before in the Northwest” (57). Martin Harris comments on this random occurrence stating “The intrusion of the parable into The Maltese Falcon has invited much speculation, with most agreeing that it’s lack of significance to the plot promotes it thematic importance” (Harris 243). This makes the digression of the story of Flitcraft an off kilter affair that initially slows the story down. Without further study into the parable its meaning is easy to dismiss as mere static when compared to the bigger plot in the story. However, understanding this seemingly misplaced tale gives the reader a much deeper understanding of Spade and the

The protagonist, Mrs. Wright, is trying to keep from being accused of murder and this is why she hides the dead bird. The two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, begin to warm up to what really has happened and throughout the story continue to grow more sympathetic towards Mrs. Wright. The suspense is built up very well trying to figure out whether or not she will get convicted. In the climax, the two women find Mrs. Wright's dead bird and realize what has happened. They are faced with the dilemma of whether or not to turn her in for what they now know she is guilty of. The reader does not find out what happens but is left to assume the best ending. Although the plot of this story is not very exciting, it does achieve its central purpose of showing the women leaving the men out in the cold and uniting together. Throughout the plot and structure they were some instances of irony that were used very well.