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Social Classes In The Big Sleep

Decent Essays

Raymond Chandler captures the essence of various social classes in his book The Big Sleep. While many stories focus on one social class, Chandler delves into the world of the ludicrously rich, the criminal elite, and the run-of-the-mill working class. Social classes are often neatly divided, but The Big Sleep explores situations that cause the diverse classes to intertwine. The tangle of classes becomes a major theme of the story, giving rise to additional minor themes. First, romance that evolves between individuals of different classes can be an especially curious matter. Second, working in a field that connects the classes - like detective work - is a dangerous business. Third, money is something that many people are after, but there are …show more content…

Furthermore, instead of giving the criminals his money, General Sternwood calls for Marlowe and offers to pay him. However, knowing Marlowe's social position, General Sternwood pays him far less than the blackmail amount. Throughout the story, many characters were only involved in the mystery because they were after some amount of money. These characters were of different classes, demonstrating that greed is a non-discriminatory trait. Money often went in circles, transferring hands between the Sternwoods, Eddie Mars, Marlowe, and other characters. Juxtaposed with the many greedy characters of The Big Sleep, Phillip Marlowe displays a more honorable side of human nature. While he drinks often and comes of as brash to some, Marlowe makes it clear that he is less interested in money and more interested in solving mysteries. He accepts the General's low payment offer, then ends up helping Vivian and Carmen Sternwood for free. There were multiple times that Marlowe helped other characters without expecting any form of payment. The passage is an example of Marlowe helping Vivian Sternwood by explaining to her his investigative

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