EN 373 Two Essay

best selling author in the world, outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible, epitomizes the genre (not innovator, but perfecter), seek to reconcile damage of WWI

-suspicion of upper class by lower class
-triumph of women’s suffrage/ conflict of gender
-older generation v.

lower generation (Bantrys, Marple v. Basil, Mark, Josie)

Colonel Bantry
Dolly Bantry
Miss Marple- asked to help by Dolly Bantry, fears if murder is not solved Bantrys will be shamed within their community, wedded to village parallels, St. Mary Mead = microcosm, skills that are typically dismissed by men as women’s intuition, skeptical
Inspector Slack- puts down Marple and her abilities
Colonel Melchett
Basil Blake- prime suspect, designs props for a movie set, found body on hearth moved it to Bantry’s library, not off fighting bc injured in London Blitz
Ruby Keene- murdered by Josie and Mark, burned in George Bartlett’s car
Conway Jefferson- reported Ruby missing, planned on adopting her and leaving her his fortune
Sir Henry Clithering- retired Scotland Yard commissioner, old friend of Conway who looks into Ruby’s murder
Adelaide/Peter- wife/son of Frank, Frank lost inheritance in a bad investment
Pamela Reeves- thought to be body in charred car, actually tricked by Mark to play a double (Ruby) for a movie
Dinah Lee- married to Basil Blake
George Bartlett- car stolen, dumb
Raymond Starr- hotel dance and tennis instructor
Josie Turner- Ruby’s cousin/hostess/dancer at the Majestic Hotel, married to Mark, tried to murder Conway
Mark Gaskell- Rosamund’s widow, heir to Conway’s fortune, gambled away Rosamund’s inheritance
Superintendent Harper-

-police force not obviously idiotic
-surprise element, puzzle element
-self-knowing detective story
-library symbolizes Bantrys, lived past its prime, sacred space, sanctuary of Victorian England (no vulgarity like Dinah and Basil), no Bantry children = dying line
-juxtaposition of gaudy body in library
-people/bodies conform to types- Christie commenting on the fact that people shouldn’t be boxed in as a type
hearth- center of warmth, heart of home, source of life

hardboiled

Sam Spade- private detective, governed by code of ethics (protecting his clients), blond satan (V motif)
Brigid O’Shaughnessy- Miss Wonderly, Miss LeBlanc, femme fatale (takes advantage of beauty and sex appeal to get men to do what she wants), liar, manipulator, unobtainable relationship
Casper Gutman- fat man, obsessed with the black falcon statue, figure of excess, ruthless but honest (make Wilmer, son-like figure, a scapegoat)
Joel Cairo- works for Gutman, wimpy, delicate, womanly description (queer-figure),
Effie Perine- Spade’s secretary, loyal, not flashy, professional relationship
Miles Archer- Spade’s partner whom he disliked
Iva Archer- Miles’s wife who Spade was having an affair with, manipulative, clingy, lack of trust, relationship = convenience
Sid Wise- Spade’s lawyer
Luke- hotel detective

-starts with a body
-more we learn, less we know
-mechanistic, empirical view of human nature (person = body = machine, no soul or spirit)
-not allowed to know Spade from the inside
-every scene includes Spade
-Hammett, play fair, reader learns as detective does
-“wild and unpredictable” v. machine like
– Spade sets his desires aside unlike everyone else
-Spade continually gives Brigid a chance to trust him
-taking things a face value and the danger of that
-value of bird far exceed material value, history makes it valuable
-names (Spade- digs, Cairo-oriental, Gutman- gluttonous, Miles Archer- soldier that falls in line of duty)
-Flitcraft story- humans are automaton that desire security
-Spade strips Brigid to see if she took money and finds nothing, parallel to Flitcraft and falcon

Philip Marlowe- obliged to right wrongs (motivation), private detective, knightly figure unlike Spade/Holmes
Lt.

Nulty- racist
Moose Malloy- felon, big, loud dresser, kills Jessie Florian and black night club owner
Jessie Florian- widow of former Florian night club owner
Lindsay Marriott- held trust deed on Florian’s house
Jules Amthor- psychic,
Velma Valento- informed on Malloy, married to Lewin Grayle, met him on his radio show, commits suicide after fleeing
Mr. Lewin Grayle- rich man, owner of radio station
Anne Riordan- policemans daughter
Lt. Randall- intelligent/honest LA cop
Laird Brunette- local hoodlum, controls corrupt Bay City government
Red Noorgard- honest cop fired by Bay City, violet eyes, helps Marlowe on Brunette’s boat, eventually gets job back
Dr. Sonderborg- where Bay City cops drop Marlowe after they knock him out at Amthors
John Wax- corrupt Bay City police chief
Second Planting- Indian actor/guard for Jules Amthor, out of place in modern society, smell is earthy not like the city, racism

-stolen jade, goes to solve one case but finds a more important one
-Marlowe is loyal to his client, Spade loyal to profession
-Chandler conscious through Marlowe
-Rembrant painting, reflects Marlowe, free calendar, advertising space, S.

Cal consumer culture, allegory between art and commerce
-Rembrandt reduced to mechanic process, picture printed and reprinted a million times
-Marlowe dragged into the case
-Marlowe’s card found on Marriott smeared like Rembrandt
-murder of Mrs. Florian similar to orangutan killing in Murder in the Rue Morgue
-pink bug represents Marlowe, keep getting up despite obstacles, wander but not getting anywhere
-Marlowe only uses N-word with people he wants to get info from
-everything is for sale- even race- for white consumption
-Brunette (new crime) v. Malloy (old crime)
-Anne Riordan/Irene Adler parallel, active women

Lew Archer- role of psychoanalyst, Captain Nemo
Gordon Sable- lawyer that hires Archer, murdered Peter Culligan, blamed it on Alice, planned John Galton scheme
Tony Galton- declassed himself in Depression, became poet, married Theodora Fredericks
Maria Galton- Tony’s mother, desire to find son and make amends
Dr. August Howell (daughter Sheila)- Galton’s physician, weary of John Galton
Cassie Hildreth- lives with Maria (helps her), in love with Tony, shares similar affection toward John
Alice Sable- had affair with Peter Culligan, abusive relationship, psychotic
Peter Culligan- masterminded John Brown plot against Maria Galton with Sable
Chad Bolling- poet, child like behavior when hes by the sea
Dr.

Dineen- oldest generation represented in the book
John Galton/Theo Fredericks
Marion Matheson- nurse for baby John

-intergenerational strife, fragmentation within family
-bad individuals, not a systemic issue
-detective hero as psychoanalyst (Fran Lemberg)
-images of rising and falling, bird imagery
-going up = going to Heaven
-Marvista Manor- no men, buried past, built on bones of John Galton
-takes place in fictional Santa Teresa
-going through the motions (how John finds his identity)
-Luna Bay
-speech as a symbol of authenticity

-represent world as a gritty place, focus on lower class
-noir fiction
-repetition: cats (Cora as Hell Cat, Katz, Madge Allen’s cats), murder attempts, Twin Oaks, cars (1st kills Nick, 2nd kills Cora)
-media = idea for murder attempt one
-horizontal (negative freedom-Frank) v. vertical movement (positive freedom-Nick)
-Nick embraces his past-tavern logo has Greek/US flag

Nick Papdakis- “the Greek”, small business owner, treasures his memories
Cora Papadakis- wants to be something, resents the Greek, wants to be someone without history, loves Twin Oak Tavern and Nick’s gold watch, can’t stand breeding with nonAmerican
Frank Chambers- wanderer, rootless, thrown into the story, vacuum: eat, smoke, drink, sex, consumption, constantly starting over
Katz- attorney
Sackett- investigator
Madge Allen- woman who Frank has affair with, trains jungle cats for Hollywood

-nonfiction, 1964
-Didion: descendant of California settlers, cynical view of newcomers
-dream teaches dreamers how to live (ie: social media)
-future always looks good because no one can remember the past, everyone looking to start over
-superficiality
-Church of Nazarin next to strip club
-Lucille Miller

-Floral beach- not a lot of men in the street
-older generation looking to reconcile w alienated child
-Kinsey: androgynous, no disguise/makeup, rejection of femininity
-class disparity: privileged middle class v. white trash
-Ocean Beach Motel
-theater: Floral Beach as backside of real town, illness as theater

-Monet= impressionist painter
-how people deal with racism, exile, isolation, black consciousness in America
-positive freedom: house, negative freedom: Mouse
– system= racist and corrupt, Rawlins has to spy on his own community, money motive, test his allegiance, divided loyalty
-sentiment of resentment among blacks who fought in WWII, fought for freedom yet dont have equal rights (Albright represents the white man)
-opening description resembles Raymond Chandler
-Easy worked in assembly line at Champion Aircraft
-Dewitt offers job with respect (American Dream), Benny doesn’t
-Dewitt and Mouse are twins
-Dewitt violence physical and outright, Benny is psychological
-by the end of the novel, Easy in like Albright, does favors for friends and friends of friends but not as vicious
-mouse in interrogation room like Chandler’s pink bug
-Easy uses race as a disguise among his own ppl
-Mouse comfortable in his own skin, only free black in his community?
-Ruby Hanks (green eyes), Daphne (blue)

Easy Rawlins- settles in LA after WWII, from Texas
DeWitt Albright- white man who hires Easy to find Daphne, commissioned by Todd Carter, satan incarnate
Joppy- owner of bar, Easy’s friend but betrays him, killed Howard Green and Coretta, killed by Mouse
Daphne Monet/Ruby Hanks- looks white but isn’t, Todd Carter’s love, stole $30,000 from him, femme fatale
Junior Fornay- killed Richard McGee
Howard Green- Matthew Teran’s former chauffeur, killed by Joppy, tried to help boss ruin Mr. Carter
Matthew Teran- pedophile, tries to use Daphne to get back at Todd Carter
Richard McGee- homosexual pimp who sells young boys to rich men ie: Matthew Teran, dates Daphne until she leaves him, killed by Junior after he escorts him hime from bar
Frank Green- gangster who hijacks alcohol and cigarettes, “Knifehand”, killed by Mouse
Todd Carter- president of Lion Investments, weak-willed, helps Easy avoid jail time
Raymond “Mouse” Alexander- 5’6″, dangerous, helps Easy solve mystery
Odell- Easy’s quiet, cautious friend, voice of fear
Dupree- former coworker at Champion
Coretta- gives Easy info on Daphne, killed by Joppy
Benny- Easy’s boss at Champion that doesn’t show him respect

-metafictional like Body in the Library
-Erik: detective vanity, feels like he’s the only one who can solve the case which leads him into Red’s trap
-Yarmolinsky = death Rabbi
– Jewish editor who no one took notice of except Red (how he learns Eriks agenda)
-everything revealed in mirrors on top of Triste-Le-Roy
-unknown location: everywhere and nowhere
-nothing exists singularly: doubles/repetition (Scharlacks brother)
-Erik feeling of deja vu feels like hes in a trap
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