Edward Said - The sign of the Four, Orientalism, Maltese Falcon - Assignment Example

Why should you, for mere passing pleasure, risk the loss of those great powers with which you have been endowed?” Through the passage, Watson questions Sherlock Holmes over his cocaine use and the effect it may have on his detective abilities. The chapter symbolizes how good neutralize evil through the interaction of Watson and Holmes. Watson humanizes Holmes. Through Watson, Holmes loyal friend, the audience gets to see a great detective in Holmes despite his arrogance, cold-calculating nature, and detachment.

Orientalism In his book ‘Orientalism’, Edward Said examines a number of assumptions by the West about the East. Said redefines the term orientalism to encapsulate the false assumptions that western attitudes have on the cultural representations of the people from Middle East and mainly Arabs. A quote from his work states “so far as the United States seems concerned, it is only a slightly overstatement that Muslims and Arabs are essentially seen as either oil suppliers or potential terrorists” (Said 112).

This quote emphasizes an almost true representation of western attitudes on the Middle East. I am in agreement with Said. Be it in the news or films, people from the Middle East are mostly portrayed in that taste. Said’s work is significant in shifting and questioning the post-colonial view of the Middle East. It helps to shape a world view that is not distorted through the cultural misrepresentation of people dependent on their regional backgrounds. Maltese Falcon Yes, there is a connection between Said’s theories about the ‘other’ with Hamlett’s text.

This can be viewed through the character Joel Cairo who is commonly referred to as ‘the Levantine’ in reference to the Mediterranean region he seems to come from. Cairo is also portrayed as effeminate through his talk and dressing. Said criticizes western writing for depicting the orient as weak, irrational, and feminized and this is evident in the writing by Hamlett (Said 36). The falcon can be viewed as an ‘othered’ object as it depicts the wealth of the Middle East.

The Maltese Falcon is a symbol and depicts the greed among the various characters. It symbolizes how the promise and pursuit of wealth can bring out the worst traits in people. Works Cited Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2014.