Crime Fiction Essay

961 Words2 Pages

There are many factors and events that led to the development of the crime fiction novel of the 1920s. From as far back as July 4, 1776 America has been coined the land of opportunity—a free land for all people and all purposes. It was also a country full of immigrants seeking that same prosperity. The only problem was that this “American dream” didn’t come as quickly as most thought it would. This resulted in the growth of America’s gun culture which was already deeply imbedded in this country’s roots. Immigrants who felt that they were being denied the American dream were quick to speed up the process and take it at gun point. These types of instances led to the cowboys and outlaws of the Wild West. At this same time, America was in the midst of its golden industrial era. These two factors led to the establishment of the Private Police Force who provided protection against criminals, train robbers and even controlling workers in places like Chicago. PPFs such as the Pinkerton Agency were also reportedly providing military-like services to the government. At one point, the Pinkerton Agency employed more agents than the United States army. Unfortunately these agents were often just as ruthless and corrupt as the outlaws they were hired to arrest. They ultimately became the inspirations for the hard boiled detectives in America. The golden age of crime fiction came about shortly after World War I. The economic growth combined with the introduction of prohibition lead to the rise of the 1920s American gangster. These gangsters were often wealthy enough to “buy out” the police and present themselves as businessmen. They became more respected than the officials which eventually lead to individuals looking to private detectives for jus...

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...turn out to be a part of a notorious gang. These situations don’t happen in every hard-boiled story but one can see how drastic the story line is compared to its classic counterpart.
These characteristics continued to appear in stories like Black Mask, Dime Detective and other major pulp fiction publications. Detectives like Race Williams, Continental Op and Oliver Quade appeared month after month as the readers demanded more of this “shoot-first-ask-questions-later fiction. For the youth of the 1920s, these hard-boiled detectives provided release from the depressive era that they were entering. The genre progressed in the 1930s and became a solid part of American culture. In later years, we began to see the mark of the hard-boiled detective in film and comic books. The hard-boiled detective has evolved into a distinct part of American culture that is here to stay

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