Citation: "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett p 150- 216
Now that the book is complete I think it's important to look at the story as a whole.
some common themes throughout the novel include:
-lies and deceit: I think this one is pretty self explanatory. In any case with investigations involved, people lie to protect themselves or drive themselves ahead of the rest in their goals. They cover up their actions. This is seen throughout the novel and to the major plot twist that Brigid is the person that killed Sam's partner Archer.
-greed *especially monetary greed*:showed in not only Sam's actions, but everyone looking for the Falcon
-masculinity and femininity: men tend to be violent and serious while the women seem to be objectified
-loyalty and trust: Sam constantly tests the loyalty of Brigid and a few other characters. If you are too loyal, they use it against you, if you aren't loyal enough, they ARE against you.
Important Literary Devices:
-The Maltese Falcon is considered to be a MacGuffin and is also a driving force for greed and causes lies, deceit, and violence in the novel.
-Even through the end we are still left being unsure of the true intentions of Sam's actions; a.k.a being morally ambiguous *also typical of crime and detective genres*. We don't know if he truly cares about justice, or if he is trying to save himself. We cant tell if he was telling the truth when he said that he loved Brigid also.
-Allusions include Knights of Malta and Emperor Charles V of Spain, both of which are included as the history of the Maltese Falcon.
This story sounds very interesting, and drama-filled! But, those do make the most entertaining books to read. I think this book contains a lot of faults humans have, and it represents the important characteristics a lot of people hold, like loyalty, or a bad fault like deceit. When it comes down to it, this story could be an example of human nature.
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