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Rob Thomas Morality

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In addition, his morality is unclear. It is ambiguous what would have happened if the Falcon was real and Spade would have decided not to go to the police. He would then have been a criminal himself. When Brigid asks him what he would have done, he responds: What difference does that make now? Don't be too sure that I'm as crooked as I'm supposed to be. That kind of reputation might be good business...making it easier to deal with the enemy...well, a lot of money would have been at least one more item on the other side of the scales.”1 With the latter he implies an argument to not bring Brigid (and the other criminals) to the police. What this highlights is ambiguity of the PI as he can fall either way of the law. In other words, he …show more content…

Despite the knowledge of their questionable methods, the trust in the private detective, highlights the belief that the detective has good intentions. This is an issue that has influenced ideas in more recent detectives and relates to the question of the PI's position in these two novels. Hammond says about Rob Thomas' detective, Veronica Mars, that “though she breaks the actual laws...she does so in order to fulfil her higher and more important moral duties.”2 Moreover, in the modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes ,'Elementary', Holmes and Watson are confronted by the consequences of their illegal methods. Watson asks: “Why do we get to be above the rules?” Sherlock …show more content…

This is a theme that is not uncommon in detective fiction, detectives such as Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot become the moral judge on the situation and decide at times to go against the expectations of the law.10 However, in the case of Spade and V.I. their position as judge becomes compromised. There are two aspects that cause this. Firstly, unlike the classical narratives, the hard-boiled detective and, therefore the judge on the situation, is not one of superior, almost above ordinary humans, intellect, yet a person of action. In other words, they are 'ordinary' human beings. Thus a 'regular' person decides over the lives and fates of criminals, which will have consequences on the rest of society. Moreover, the issue remains that as he has his own version of morality, this might differ from the actual

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