The Big Sleep
In Raymond Chandler's novel The Big Sleep the main character, Phillip Marlowe, is a private investigator hired by the Sternwoods to solve a blackmail conspiracy. He is successful in his crime solving, but in his success, Marlowe raises many mysteries or questions. The crimes that he solves raise a moral and ethical debate on how far he should go to protect the Sternwoods or whether he should obey every law exactly. Marlowe is hired to stop the blackmailing that is happening to Carmen, the daughter of General Sternwood. It is safe to say that he accomplishes this very well. In doing so, he stumbles on Carmen in A.G. Geiger's house. Normally this would be a big deal, but Geiger is dead. Also, the pictures that he took of Carmen are missing. Marlowe describes the scene when he thinks, "No plateholder. I took hold of his limp chilling hand and rolled him a little. No plateholder. I didn't like this development." (38). Marlowe takes to the tasks of solving this murder and the blackmail. He finds out that Joe Brody has the pictures. In thinking of his clients first, Marlowe goes to Brody's apartment. He manages to get the pictures
As stated in the opening paragraph, Marlowe solves the crimes but he opens up a mystery. The mystery is whether or not Marlowe is ethical in protecting the Sternwoods. Marlowe is willing to go to all costs to protect his client or as he puts it "What little guts and intelligence the Lord gave me and a willingness to get pushed around in order to protect a client" (114). During his employment, Marlowe goes to great personal and legal risks to protect the Sternwoods. For instance, he walks into Geiger's house after he hears 3 gunshots and sees Geiger dead and Carmen naked. Instead of going to the police, like he should, Marlowe takes Carmen home and does not tell the police about Geiger's death for an entire day. This conscientious thought indirectly cost Joe Brody his life. This raises an interesting question, whether or not this is morally the right thing to do. On one hand, Marlowe should follow the law and tell the police right away, but on the other hand, he also has a duty to protect his client. This is a reoccurring question in the novel. The question is raised again when Marlowe decides not to turn in the pictures to the police for evidence.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 785
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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