“The Queen’s Square,” written by Dorothy Sayers, includes a character named, Lord Peter Wimsey, who is known as a “Golden Age” detective. A novel named, “The Big Sleep,” by Raymond Chandler, includes a character named, Philip Marlowe, who is known as a “Hard-Boiled” detective. These two types of detectives are different in several aspects of these mystery/crime stories. Peter Wimsey’s and Philip Marlowe’s motivation to solve their cases was one aspect that supported how these two types of detectives are different from each other. One seemed to be more selfish in a way, while the other wanted to figure out the truth about the cases for others. The Golden Age detective portrays Wimsey to be motivated by the enjoyment, while on the other hand, the Hard-boiled detective is motivated by doing a satisfying job.
Peter Wimsey was an amateur-detective, meaning he doesn’t have to work because he’s a lord, and he solves for the excitement. Therefore, readers can see that Wimsey cares more for the enjoyment of solving the case than making money. In “The Queen’s Square”, Wimsey’s case was to figure out who killed Miss Grayle and why. Wimsey just happened to be at the Sir Roger and a murder happened, so he took it upon himself to solve the mystery. There wasn’t any reward for Wimsey if he did solve the case so this supports
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In “The Big Sleep”, Marlowe told Sternwood that he “refused payment for an unsatisfactory job” (Chandler, 210). Marlowe refusing a payment, gives the impression that he felt he did not do a good enough job or finished the job for Sternwood. Since his motivation was more about satisfaction, this gave Marlowe the characteristic that he would work hard for his client and find the truth no matter what it took. For example, Marlowe was in many situations where weapons were present. Marlowe would get information that he needed or go find more if necessary to make his job be
Dashiell Hammett’s novel, The Maltese Falcon, is a hard-boiled detective novel; a subset of the mystery genre. Before the appearance of this sub-genre, mystery novels were mainly dominated by unrealistic cases and detectives like Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. As Malmgren states, “The murders in these stories are implausibly motivated, the plots completely artificial, and the characters pathetically two-dimensional, puppets and cardboard lovers, and paper mache villains and detectives of exquisite and impossible gentility.” (Malmgren, 371) On the other hand, Hammett tried to write realistic mystery fiction – the “hard-boiled” genre.
In Kate Summerscale’s book, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, we are introduced to a murder case at the Road Hill House in the late 19th century. The young child Saville Kent has been murdered and who murdered him is the question the entire town is interested in. All of the evidence we are introduced to points to Saville 's older, half sister, Constance Kent, as the murderer.
Every human being must have a set of moral codes. These morals are usually set out by the people and environments that one finds themselves surrounded by. Easy Rawlins, the main protagonist in The Little Yellow Dog by Walter Mosely, is exposed to crime at an early age, and is surrounded by it for most of his life. On the other hand, Philip Marlowe, the main protagonist in The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler, grows up in a peaceful and pleasant environment. His first experiences with crime occur when he becomes a private investigator. As adults, both of these men find themselves involved in criminal activity. In their attempts to seek the true justice that they deserve, they are forced to defy the law. In doing so, they experience many physical challenges, including gang beatings and police intimidation. They also experience numerous mental challenges, including lying to the police, deceiving their own families, and the ability to cope with all the chaos that is surrounding them. In addition to being challenged physically and mentally, they are also socially challenged: Marlowe and Rawlins both feel that they are looked down upon due to their occupations. By the end of their journeys, both characters feel that defying the law can be the only way of achieving true justice.
On first inspection of Raymond Chandler's novel, The Big Sleep, the reader discovers that the story unravels quickly through the narrative voice of Philip Marlowe, the detective hired by the Sternwood family of Los Angeles to solve a mystery for them. The mystery concerns the General Sternwood's young daughter, and a one Mr. A. G. Geiger. Upon digging for the answer to this puzzle placed before Marlowe for a mere fee of $25 dollars a day plus expenses, Marlowe soon finds layers upon layers of mystifying events tangled in the already mysterious web of lies and deception concerning the Sternwood family, especially the two young daughters.
This essay will examine both "The Speckled Band" by Conan Doyle and "Visitors" by Brian Moon and will look at how each one conforms to or diverges from the conventions of the detective story and also how each story is representative of the century it was written in by how it presents the woman, the hero and the villain.
Raymond Chandler, along with Dashiell Hammett, invented what is now known as modern detective literature. Chandler excelled in the art, creating "wise-cracking" cynical "private *censored*s," such as Philip Marlowe. Marlowe and Sam Spade are what shall forever be the standard Private eye with razor sharp wit, keen intellect, and the blatant disregard for authority. Philip Marlowe is the smooth talking yet sentimental private eye. Marlowe's sentimental side is what turned him into a real person, and not a "colorless narrator" as Sam Spade was often criticized as being by numerous critics. (Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler, 25-26)
It is very interesting to note how the conventions of 1940’s hardboiled private eye fiction translate into the 1970’s. The low-rent drabness of the genre loses much of its allure. The dark shadows and long nights of urban Los Angeles become the bright lights and warm sunshine of Malibu beaches. The detective’s normally snappy dialogue turns into joking asides. Marlowe’s hardboiled narration becomes the self-conscious mutterings of a lonely man talking to himself. The romantic myth of a man set apart from the city is turned on its head as a pathetic man living alone with his cat.
“The ABC Murders” is about a detective by the name of Poirot who has to find clues on a killer who is killing people whose names are in alphabetical order. It started off with Alice Ascher from Andover. Then it went to Betty Barnard from Bexhill and then to Sir Carmichael Clarke from Churston. Each time the murderer committed a crime he would leave an ABC Train Map by the victim. The murderer was an experienced criminal who left no trace of his identity. He goes by the name of ABC. Before each murder ABC would send Poirot a letter saying the date and town the murder would happen. The relatives of the victims came together with Poirot to help try and get ahead of the criminal. In the ending Poirot reveals that the brother of Sir Carmichael Clarke, Franklin Clarke committed the crimes to draw away attention from him wanting to inherit his brothers treasures. He had to kill him so he couldn’t marry Thora Grey and not get the money. Franklin Clarke tried to frame the murders on Mr. Cust who is a travelling salesman.
Sherlock Holmes, one of the most famous fictional characters in literary history is a detective capable of solving the most complex mysteries. The author behind the character, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a very successful British writer. The majority of his literary success is due to his crime-fiction tales such as the Sherlock Holmes series. However, Mr. Doyle and Mr. Holmes himself must not take all the credit because there is another character that plays a major role in the stories success. He goes by the name of Dr. Watson, Holmes’ sidekick. The importance of Dr. Watson is evident in many of Doyle’s stories such as A Scandal in Bohemia and A Study in Scarlett.
Murder is the most sinister of any crime you can commit as you are taking life away from someone who isn't ready to go. It is especially irrational when murder is carried out with no motive. This could only be the work of a madman. With crime people seek justice and will make their best efforts to achieve it. In the ABC Murders by Agatha Christie we explore the mystery of not one, but four murders carried out meticulously and with proper planning. In this novel we get to see the solving process of an interesting murder case through two private detectives who have gotten back together after some time apart in retirement. We get to see how they are able to think like a murder and determine the motives and planning behind the crimes.
There is one immensely popular figure in Victorian literature that uses scientific deduction to solve criminal mysteries, and his curiosity to solve mysteries has become his obsession. However, he is so cool and distant from his own emotions that he does not care if the obsession leads to his destruction, as long as he solves the mystery to appease his voracious mind first. The only thing that truly excites him in a passionate way, the one thing that causes any emotion within his cool demeanor, is his curiosity, which is his addiction, for solving mysteries. He is the hero of the story The Sign of Four, and his name, of course, is Sherlock Holmes.
Marlowe is successful in many ways. First, he is capable of obtaining the necessary information to incriminate suspects. For example, although Marlowe presumed Joe Brody did not kill Geiger, he still managed to convince Jody that he had
Raymond Chandler and Howard Hawks both create incredible pieces of art with their individual representations of The Big Sleep. The differences between the works allow them to converse and argue with each other, thus creating a new interpretation on the themes of the story. Hawks' version seems to be about Marlowe's struggle with the unnatural world, Chandler's about a struggle with nature. The movie was well made, as the book was well written: both are sufficient to stand and to be appreciated alone.
For Sherlock Holmes, his partner in crime is Dr. John H. Watson. Not only is he a trusted friend, but also he is Holmes’ associate and the first person narrator of the Sherlock tales. The stories of Sherlock Holmes are a collection of short stories and fictional novels created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These stories are based on a famous and most notorious detective all throughout London, Sherlock Holmes. Along his side, Dr. Watson narrates his and Holmes’ detective cases and reveals Sherlock’s abilities and knowledge of solving cases and fighting deadly crimes. For the duration of the stories, Watson and Holmes share a particular relationship where Holmes verbally dominates Watson, “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is very clear” (Doyle 241). When he isn’t insulting Dr. Watson he talks about how much he relies on his partner, “I am lost without my Boswell” (Doyle 243).
...t-out and cunning crime will not go unpunished. This notion plays on the idea that good always wins. An idea this simple is easy to overlook, but can have profound results. Subconsciously the reader takes in that “good always wins” and this will in turn reduce/lower their desires for doing evil. So by having the detective always solve the case, which happens in virtually all of detective fiction, the reader is left more fulfilled and less likely to commit a crime themselves.