The Big Sleep | The Appeal of Marlowe in Chandler's Novel
In this essay, Semansky considers the appeal of Marlowe in Chandler's novel.
At the heart of Chandler's first novel and at the heart of all of his novels is Phillip Marlowe, a man of contradictions, who has served as a kind of prototype for private investigators in films and novels over the last sixty years. Rather than alienating readers with his homophobia, his machismo, and his seeming disdain for women, Marlowe has helped Chandler attract a large readership, as he also embodies professional and personal integrity, speaking his mind without worrying about being politically correct or offending the powers that be.
Marlowe, however, is also a cynic, who...
[The entire page is 1315 words long]
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