Dashiell Hammett: Major Themes Of Detective Fiction

Major Themes The narrative style of hard boiled fiction is also surprising. Hard boiled fiction is often defined by what it is not. It is not British; but is American. It is not set in the little village; but in a large city or urban area. It is not filled with civilized and polite people; but with crooks, criminals and mafia types who are very familiar with physical violence, psychological intimidation and can say some rough languages. The solution is not reached by a brilliant detective who analyzes clues and is an expert as psychological deduction. Corruption and disorder are common themes of this genre.

The Beginning and the Growth

After pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid 1920s, it was popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the

It took graphic sex and violence as there centre of attraction through vivid but often sordid urban backgrounds, and fast-paced, slangy dialogue. Obviously the credit for the invention of the genre belongs to Dashiell Hammett, a former Pinkerton detective and contributor to the pulp magazines, whose first truly hard boiled story, “Fly Paper,” appeared in Black Mask magazine in 1929. Combining his own experiences with the realistic influence of writers such as Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos, Hammett created a definitely American type of detective fiction that was separate and distinct from the English mystery story usually set in a country house populated by cooks, butlers, and relatives, a pattern that had been slavishly followed by American writers for generations. It is important to know about his contribution in this genre. The first of Hammett’s detective novels was Red Harvest (1929). His masterpiece is generally believed to be The Maltese Falcon (1930), which introduced Sam Spade, his most famous sleuth. His most successful story, The Thin Man (1934), was the last of an extraordinary quintet of novels. All of these were successful in the theme and