Week 9 Analysis: Literary Analysis on "The Maltese Falcon"

For this week's analysis I would like to do a literary analysis of "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett. In this particular story, the author uses point of view and highly descriptive imagery to highlight the mysterious feel of the story and to emphasize the main character's role in the story as a private investigator. In this story, I noticed two themes, corruption and secrecy. Both of which are typical characteristics of "mystery" genres of fiction stories. In connection to history and culture, the author actually connects this work of fiction to real life.

The story starts off as main character, a private investigator, Sam "Spade" meets with wealthy performer Joel Cairo. Understanding that Spade is a PI, it is assumed Cairo is paying him for his services as early on Spade warns him about a young man following him around. After the meet. Spade travels throughout the city and tries to lose the following mystery person. Eventually, he does and returns to his apartment, where Brigid O'Shaughnessy waits. She too has hired Spade and, in her case, its for protection, most likely witness protection. In this next scene we are introduced to corruption, and after talking, the two head down to the lobby for a taxicab to meet with Cairo. A woman Iva is waiting for Spade and so is the same mysterious man.

Hammett uses very descriptive language and to paint elaborate details of setting and characters. An example of which would be that of the suspicious stalker who is described many times as "an undersized youth of twenty or twenty-one in neat grey cap and overcoat" (430 & 435). It is also shown in the narrators description of character actions as well. upon questioning Brigid, we can sense her worry and nervousness as she abruptly "got up from the settee and went to the fireplace to poke the fire. She changed slightly the position of an ornament on the mantelpiece, crossed the room to get a box of cigarettes from a table in the corner, straightened the curtain, and returned to her seat." (432-433) While it may seem normal to a reader, this actually draws more attention to herself as she tries to make herself busy to hide her anxiety from Spade. This not only shows her personality, but also emphasizes the mysteriousness of the situation and describes in detail the setting of Spade's room. All this plays a key role in connection with Spade and the genre of mystery. Being that Spade is an investigator and that this is a mystery novel, it is only natural for the characters, settings, and actions of others to be analyzed and described with utmost detail. 

Also, commonly in this genre of writing it is common to see secrecy and corruption. Crime stories often involve some form of secrecy and can occasionally have corruption in the form of crimes itself or "bad cops". This is also true for "The Maltese Falcon". Initially we don't coin Spade as a bad cop, however, he does approach Brigid, a paying customer and tells her that he may have to reconsider their situation as he has gotten a better offer *one of $5,000* against her. She then is forced to try to change his mind in which she offers selling her body since she has no money left. In this and other aspects of the story is also secrecy, both in the story level, and on the writing level. In the story it seems that characters are hiding grave details. This is shown in how Brigid's nervous actions, but also in Spade's lack of insightful conversation. While he notices a lot around him, he doesn't alert others in detail. Another example would be of Iva Archer, supposed lover of Spade who meets him outside his building. She wants to tell him something, but wont flat out say it and he himself is hiding details of who Brigid is from her. He also doesn't let her know why he's avoiding her and that he is being followed. This secrecy can be described in two ways, either secrecy to protect the welfare of others, or maybe to protect one's self.

On the writing level, Hammett actually uses point of view to add to the suspicious feel. The point of view is told from a third person objective standpoint. It can be descriptive, however, by keeping the thoughts of the detective unknown and remaining third person, readers are still missing a great deal of the story and thought-process. This plays into the mystery genre of writing as it keeps readers intrigued as the attempt to solve the mystery in their minds or forces them to continue reading to have the solutions presented to them.

Mystery writing is characteristic of Dashiell Hammett's many writings. This is probably because he himself was a detective. He worked jobs as a Pinkerton Agent in San Francisco until his illness forced him to stop. He then took on writing, in which he was able to "writ[e] stories based on his experience" (429). Interestingly enough, after some research I found that the character Joel Cairo was based on a real-life criminal Hammett arrested for forgery in Pasco, Washington in 1920. The character of Spade I initially thought was a representation of Hammett himself, however, he is actually considered  "a dream man" with "no original". He was the detective people of the time wanted to be.

Works Cited:

Hammett, Dashiell. “The Maltese Falcon.” The Literature of California, edited by Jack Hicks, University of California Press, 2000, pp. 429-436.

The Maltese Falcon Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maltese_Falcon_(novel)