Marlowe's Manipulation
Marlowe’s Manipulation
When it comes to American heroes, many critics and casual readers alike rally unquestionably behind characters that portray honesty, courage, wit, and self-reliance. How can a reader truly assess a character’s qualities if the narration is told in a first person perspective? Philip Marlowe, a “hard-boiled private detective” created by Raymond Chandler in his first novel (Yearley par 15), The Big Sleep, displays many of said admirable qualities. His story is also told in first person. One can only assess Marlowe’s personality through the biased opinion of the narrator himself. Therefore, it is the readers’ responsibility to question how much truth is behind Marlowe’s storytelling. Without honesty, the story can be slanted to make the other heroic qualities appear where they are in fact not. Because Chandler does a great job of making Marlowe so charming, readers get easily distracted from the fact that the entire plot is subjective. Marlowe’s credibility comes into question through his self-portrayal, through his manipulation of his readers into accepting his own limited and unsupported suspicions of other characters, and through his near superhuman ability to be in the “right” place at the right time. Marlowe, always seeing himself as the protagonist of his Los Angeles roots, makes sure that the reader sees him as a sort of knight. Many critics claim that Marlowe is, in fact, Los Angeles ' knight in shining armor: “Marlowe…was a knight, his name itself drawn by Chandler from Sir Thomas Malory’s fifteenth century tales of chivalry” (Yearley par 15). Though many believe that notion, it could be argued that Marlowe portrays himself that way intentionally through minute details. For instance, Marlowe looks at a stained-glass window in the Sternwood Mansion of a knight saving a princess. He imagines himself helping that knight and thinks to himself, "I would sooner or later have to climb up there and help him. He doesn’t seem to
When it comes to American heroes, many critics and casual readers alike rally unquestionably behind characters that portray honesty, courage, wit, and self-reliance. How can a reader truly assess a character’s qualities if the narration is told in a first person perspective? Philip Marlowe, a “hard-boiled private detective” created by Raymond Chandler in his first novel (Yearley par 15), The Big Sleep, displays many of said admirable qualities. His story is also told in first person. One can only assess Marlowe’s personality through the biased opinion of the narrator himself. Therefore, it is the readers’ responsibility to question how much truth is behind Marlowe’s storytelling. Without honesty, the story can be slanted to make the other heroic qualities appear where they are in fact not. Because Chandler does a great job of making Marlowe so charming, readers get easily distracted from the fact that the entire plot is subjective. Marlowe’s credibility comes into question through his self-portrayal, through his manipulation of his readers into accepting his own limited and unsupported suspicions of other characters, and through his near superhuman ability to be in the “right” place at the right time. Marlowe, always seeing himself as the protagonist of his Los Angeles roots, makes sure that the reader sees him as a sort of knight. Many critics claim that Marlowe is, in fact, Los Angeles ' knight in shining armor: “Marlowe…was a knight, his name itself drawn by Chandler from Sir Thomas Malory’s fifteenth century tales of chivalry” (Yearley par 15). Though many believe that notion, it could be argued that Marlowe portrays himself that way intentionally through minute details. For instance, Marlowe looks at a stained-glass window in the Sternwood Mansion of a knight saving a princess. He imagines himself helping that knight and thinks to himself, "I would sooner or later have to climb up there and help him. He doesn’t seem to
Cited: Yearley, Clifton K. “The Big Sleep.” Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Nov. 2013 Chandler, Raymond. The Big Sleep. New York: Vintage Books, 1992. Print. Linder, Daniel. “Chandler’s THE BIG SLEEP.” Explicator 59.3 (2001): 137. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Nov. 2013 Delaney, Bill. “The Big Sleep.” Cyclopedia Of Literary Places (2003): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Nov. 2013 Canal, Pamela. “Raymond Chandler.” Magill’s Survey Of American Literature, Revised Edition (2006): 1-8. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Nov. 2013