The Big Sleep is set on the gritty streets of Los Angeles, and Marlowe is a private detective who is known for his principles. He contrasts strongly with the Sam Spade character, which while he does right, has a tendency to cultivate a rather unsavory reputation so he can travel in the underworld in which he must operate. At the time of the writing, Marlowe became an instant icon not only amongst mystery and detective fans, but among readers everywhere. This book was surprisingly multidimensional in nature and for the time, and explored many subjects previously considered taboo. The popularity of the novel only became greater w

The plot is significantly complicated. In the book, Marlow is called to the house of the rich General Sternwood, who asks Marlow to help him tidy up a situation regarding one of the General's daughters and her unpaid gambling debts. The General is an old man, dying and essentially a hostage to the whims of his daughters. The two Sternwood daughters are described as beautiful, headstrong and appear to be very spoiled. Marlow's first interactions are with the younger daughter, Carmen, who is childish, badly behaved and irritating. Marlow has very little patience with her, or with the childish behaviors she has used to get out of trouble in the past. She wavers between using her feminine wiles and talking or crying like a baby to get her way. She is often intoxicated in the book - from drugs. Marlowe gives her short shrift and goes about his business trying to extricate her from a messy business regarding murder, drugs and pornography. It is not until he is introduced to the older daughter, Vivian that his personal interest in the Sherwood women begins. As beautiful as her younger sister, she is mysterious and rumored to have been briefly married to an organized crime figure that has since disappeared. During the course of the case, Marlow incidentally discovers a murder and pornography plot in which the Carmen appears to be implicated. His second encounter with Carmen is in the company of a murder victim. Carmen is obviously stoned, she is stoned and naked, giggling and sucking her thumb. It appears that she has been the victim of an extortion plot involving indecent pictures. She appears to be oblivious to what has gone on around her. While Marlowe is able to extricate the young woman from the situation, he finds that he is driven by curiosity and a sense of obligation to him employer to go much deeper into the case than him employer had ever desired.

The women in the Big Sleep are separated into two camps - the haves and have-nots. Marlow seems to be more comfortable with the have-nots - the working women that he meets in the course of his investigation; the taxi drivers, secretaries, shop girls are all easily drawn in as brief confidants. These are the kind of women that would be easily termed "dames" in the vernacular of Marlow's world. It is also interesting to note that in this book, the women are as sexually predatory as the men. These women are just as likely to offer shelter and a shared drink to Marlow as they are their telephone numbers. Marlow is polite and appropriate, but never quite takes the bait. Marlow is a moody lead character - he is very skillful in his ability to negotiate on issues that seem to be headed toward violence and yet seems somewhat challenged in his ability to deal with the dysfunctional Sternwood family. Marlow appears to have little time for useless, ornamental women but appears to be very comfortable addressing women as equals, especially when engaging them in his surveillance or in active gun play. Marlow meets his match in Vivian Sherwood - the eldest and somewhat entitled daughter of the General. Vivian is typical of the strong, femme fatale characters that inhabit Chandler's novels - this time she is one of the haves. Interestingly enough, Chandler's characters and Marlow in particular, are able to relate to these women (the haves and have-nots) on an equal basis, but it is more likely that Ch

Some common words found in the essay are:
Sternwood Marlow, Marlow Chandler, Bogart Bacall, Lundgren Geiger's, Betty Bookshop, Carmen Geiger's, Sleep Marlow, Interestingly Chandler's, Oriental Western, Sam Spade, raymond chandler's, female characters, sleep raymond chandler's, los angeles, chandler's novels, foreign exotic, complicated book, drug abuse, daughter vivian, women sleep, throughout sleep,
Approximate Word count = 2284
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)