English Film and Literature Analysis - Essay Example

Let us be ignorant to the visual version of the former and instead we are going to examine the key elements of Raymond Chandler’s novel 'The Big Sleep' and John Huston's film 'The Maltese Falcon', and find out, which stands as a single core trait that the American culture holds to be essential in its heroes. The Big sleep, The Maltese Falcon and Humphrey Bogart ‘The Big sleep’ is a crime novel written by detective fiction writer, Raymond Chandler in 1939. The story is known for its intricacy and many secrets being disclosed throughout the narrative.

The whole narrative is based upon Los Angles detective, Philip Marlowe’s point of view. ‘The Maltese Falcon’ is a 1941 Warner Bros. film, directed by John Huston. The film was adapted from the novel of the same name written by Dashiell Hammett. The film ‘The Maltese Falcon’ has been named as one of the greatest films of all time by film critics. The screen play is all about a San Francisco private detective, Sam Spade and his dealings with three corrupt characters all of whom are in pursuit of a jewel encrusted statuette named the Maltese Falcon.

Humphrey Bogart, regarded as one of the greatest male star or film hero in the history of American cinema, played the character of Sam Spade. Humphrey Bogart created his own trade mark film persona through his films, which made him, a symbol of the Golden Age of Hollywood and a popular culture icon even after his death. The single core trait Inspection of these two works shows that the multiple core traits that remain as essential in American heroes are being cynical but honest, hardboiled but noble, stoical, wary as well as tough even without a gun.

These multiple elements can be combined to form a sort of ‘umbrella’ core trait named idiosyncrasy. This oxymoronic term refers to the peculiarity and individuality in one’s thought and action. Both the main characters in the novel and the film express this in enormous amounts. The American culture during the 1940’s was associated with war and the post-war period, which demanded stoical character trait in its heroes. This can be noted in the pre-climax of the movie, when Sam Spade angrily confronts O’Shaughnessy, telling her that he knows that she killed Archer to implicate Thursby.

She cannot believe that Spade would turn her over to the police, but he does, despite his feelings for her, thus exhibiting the stoical trait. “If you are good girl, you will be out in 20 years. I will be waiting for you. If they hang you, I’ll always remember you” (Huston). This also shows Spade’s behavior of accusing or cursing with sweet dialogue. On the other hand, in ‘The Big Sleep’, Marlowe exhibits the stoical trait in a different perspective. That is, he reveals a palpable dread of his own impending death, and struggles to retrace the steps that led him into a life of danger and depravity.

Both sleuths Marlowe and Spade place a great emphasis on intricate details apart from viewing the larger picture, which also can be linked to the American culture’s perspective of who can be regarded as hero. The below words by Marlow reveal how he exhibits this trait in a effective manner. “Over the entrance doors, which would have let in a troop of Indian elephants, there was a broad stained-glass panel showing a knight in dark armor rescuing a lady who was tied to a tree”. (Chandler 1).

These words clearly reflect how Marlow being a detective who looks into the details of