The Maltese Falcon, written by Dashiell Hammett, is a crime novel based in the 1940’s in San Francisco. It mainly revolves around Sam Spade, a private detective, who is hired by Miss Wonderly, also known as Bridget, to find a mysterious statue of a falcon, which is priceless. Throughout the novel, Spade does some very questionable motives, in order to find out the truth about the falcon, and his recently murdered partner. While some people may argue that Spade is hero, and was really doing everything in the name of justice, he is really an Anti-Hero. An Anti-Hero is a hero who “may try to do what is right by using questionable means,” as defined by Professor Leonard. They still do what is considered the right thing to do, but use unconventional …show more content…
means to get there. Generally a Hero will always do the right thing, no matter the situation, but this is not always the case with Spade. Sam Spade is an Anti-Hero due to his greed, self-interest, and his questionable motives towards love. One of the main themes through out the novel is greed.
It is one of the main reasons that Gutman, the main villain of the story, and his posse are going after the falcon. They all see its worth and know of the riches it can bring in the black market. Spade himself does seem to show some interest towards the falcon, but his greed extends farther than just the falcon, and can be seen in different parts of the novel, especially when it comes to dealing with money. For example in Chapter 1 when Miss Wonderly, otherwise known as Bridget O’Shaughnessy, first introduced herself to Spade and Miles Archer, his partner, and explained her story to him, they never truly believed her, but only accepted the job because of the money. She handed them two hundred dollars, and upon them seeing other more money in her bag, it convinced Spade and Archer to help her. Later in Chapter 4, Miss Wonderly ask Spade to visit her in her apartment, and reveals who she really is and that her story, was in fact, only a story. Spade was not surprised and simply responded with “we believed your two hundred dollars.” Her fake story led to the death of Miles Archer and the man who he was suppose to be following. While Archer is Spade’s partner, he does not seem to be too concerned over his death, he is more interested in Bridget’s true motives and her …show more content…
money. Another example that shows Spade’s greed is in Chapters 4 and 5, where Joel Cairo introduces himself to Spade and offers him five thousand to retrieve the falcon.
On top of him offering such a high dollar, Joel Cairo pulls a gun out on Spade with the intentions of searching his office. While the first attempt doesn’t go to well, since Spade knocks Cairo unconscious, Cairo was completely being honest about the dollar amount and Spade accepts the deal. After which, Cairo pulls a gun against Spade again and does successfully search his office. The fact that Cairo is a very shady character, and pulled out a gun on Spade twice, but Spade still accepts the deal really shows how money motivated he
is. On top of Spade being extremely greedy, he seems to use other people for his own good, especially women. While not directly said in the novel, it seems that Spade once used to be in a very deep relationship, so deep that when it ended he could never really love any one else the same. In the novel, Bridget is portrayed as to being a very attractive innocent young woman, when she is not out being a thug. In chapters 9-10, after the police left and took Cairo away, Bridget explains to Spade how she met Cairo and discovered the falcon, except she was not being completely honest, which Spade calls her out on. Since he feels that Bridget trust her, he makes a move on her and they end up sleeping together. The following morning while Bridget was sleeping, Spade sneaks out with a key to her apartment. He searches her apartment thoroughly and leaves it as is. When he returns back to his apartment, they eat breakfast together and he is able to get a little more information from her. Whether he truly loves her or not is questionable, but the fact that he could manipulate her to sleep with him, for his own pleasure is not something a hero would do. He has no problem using her to find the falcon, in order to turn it in to Cairo for five thousand dollars, which further more fuels his self-interest and greed. It seems that Bridget very much does trust Spade, and shows affection toward him. Yet Spade is able to use her to his own advantage, as shown in the very last chapter. Once Gutman and his crew had left Spade’s apartment, Spade quickly phoned the police and informed them that they were all tied to Archer’s death. Since Bridget never left, Spade was able to get Bridget to admit to killing Archer. Bridget tells him the truth because she believes that she will let her run away before the police would arrive. Unfortunately for her, Spade turns her into the police. He tells her that it would be bad for business if he were to let the killer of his partner set free, regardless if he feels any thing towards her or not. Spade kept repeating, “I won’t play the sap for you,” meaning that he would not fall for her, like Floyd Thursby did. By turning her into the police some people may say that he was doing the right thing and serving justice, which could classify him as a hero. It would not be heroic to let a thug go free for any reason. While that is true, I feel the reason that he is turning her in is because it covers his behind from the police. Spade was originally accused killing Archer, so having a person to fall back on for the crime would keep him out of trouble. This further more just brings out how self-interested he really is. Throughout different scenes of the novel, it may seem as if he was attempting to help them, but in one way or another, he ends up benefiting from it. Another scene where he may seem like a hero to some would be in Chapter 10 where he sends Bridget to stay with Effie for a bit to keep her safe. While it may seem he is trying to protect her, he is really only protecting himself. He could have had offered to let her stay at his own place, but since he does not want any more problems he suggested otherwise. If Gutman and his crew were to come looking for Bridget while she was at Effie’s home, Spade would still be safe, since he would be no where to be found. He always thinks about himself before diving into a situation that has the potential to go south very quickly. Through out the novel, Sam Spade shows that he is not clearly a traditional hero. In the end, he still does what is right, but always bends the rules one way or another, which a hero would never do. This would classify him as an Anti-Hero who “may try to do what is right by using questionable means (Leonard).” His greed, self-interest, and motives towards love, would never fit the description of a traditional hero, but justice is still served in the end and makes for a great story.
Ken Hamblin is the author of “The Black Avenger.” He has worked in various media fields and continues to work as a talk radio host and has a talk show of his own. He also refers to himself as a thinking black man (384-385). Hamblin seems to believe that hard work is the only way to be successful. Hamblin writes an effective work that portrays ethos by using his racial credibility, pathos to invoke emotions, and logos by cause and effect.
The story of Louis Riel began on October 28th 1844. He was born in a log cabin beside Seine Lake. The same priest who married his parents one year earlier baptized Louis on his day of birth. Many people view Louis Riel as the biggest pioneer of Metis in Canadian history. They base their decision on the fortresses he took and his position in Metis organizations. Others call him a joke and despise him. They base this on him being taken to trial for treason and eventually convicted and sentenced to death. As well as him betraying his country and fleeing when the land's owners were switched ruining a chance for a rebellion and having the nerve to return and restart a rebellion only before being arrested tried and hung. Everybody has his or her own view as what to make of Louis Riel. What's yours…? Hero or Villain?
Though, Robert Ross was not the normal definition of a hero, he exhibited heroic qualities for other reasons. Many of the people in The Wars will say that Robert was a hero, not your average one, but one nonetheless: “My opinion was – he was a hero. Not your everyday Sergeant York or Billy Bishop, mind you! But a hero nonetheless. You see, he did the thing that no one else would even dare to think of doing. And that to me’s as good a definition of a ‘hero’ as you’ll get. Even when the thing that’s done is something of which you disapprove.” (12) Robert may have had many anti-hero qualities, but it was the intent behind his actions that still made him a hero in other peoples eyes.
The Outsiders by SE Hinton The Outsiders by SE Hinton is a great coming-of-age novel that is about gangs, violent but also at the same time about love and brother ship. In the book, the society suddenly thinks the greasers, Pony, Johnny and Dally, are heroes. That really got me thinking. What is a hero?
An anti-hero has the role of a hero thrust upon them. They do not particularly want to be brave or noble but their actions lead them to be a hero. Facing difficult decisions and doubt are also classic traits of an anti-hero. They often lack confidence in themselves, refuse to accept their fate as a hero or don't even realise their status or ability. At a certain point, anti-heroes usually transcend into either a tragic or romantic hero. Anti-heroes can be identified in many different texts, however, all of them consist of those traits.
Andrew Carnegie, an inventor, philosopher, and entrepreneur, helped create the age of industrialization; also known as the Gilded Age. With his steel, he turned the U.S from an agricultural and commercial nation to an industrial nation. Being one of the forward-thinking men of his time, he helped cities expand bringing urbanization. Although many people consider him a hero, he is considered an antagonist because of his atrocious working conditions coupled with the long hour and the wages. So was he a hero? A hero is generally defined as someone who is admired or idealized usually for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. On the other hand, an anti-hero is someone who lacks the traits of a traditional hero but still has the greater good of the people in mind. Though Carnegie did the best he could for the people of the future, I cannot say the same for the people of his time. Andrew Carnegie is in between a hero and a villain; he is an anti-hero.
What makes a hero or a villain? A hero is defined as a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life. By this definition, there existed countless heroes in America during the 1800’s in relation to slavery. There were many abolitionists, particularly from the North, that exhibited courageous attitudes. It was these heroes that taught the southerners, who believed their lives could only prevail if slavery survived and expanded westward, what they knew was morally right (3, 92).
The story line of Red Harvest is riddled with double-crossing characters, bootleggers and crooked authority figures that obviously challenge universal moral codes of conduct. More importantly, some characters remain more morally ambivalent then others. Although, this is a troupe of hardboiled detective novels from the time, and the Film Noir genre where nothing is as it seems, there are particular characters and events that stand out. The language and situations are so double sided that the reader is forced to question the weave of their own moral fabric. Dashiell Hammett through his writing style is able to reflect on the concerns many had at the time regarding rise in crime and deterioration of Victorian age morals, coincided with the rise of the detective Anti-hero, guilty woman (femme fatal) and vigilantism.
In Dashiell Hammet’s The Maltese Falcon, the "black bird" serves as a crucial link connecting Sam Spade and Brigid O’ Shaughnessy. The black bird functions as the structural bond of Spade and Brigid’s relationship because it represents their greed and desire for wealth. Hammet points out that the Brigid’s greed for the bird causes her to utilize detective Spade as a tool: "Help me, Mr. Spade. Help me because I need help so badly, and because if you don’t where will I find anyone who can, no matter how willing?" (Hammet 35). This quotation illustrates Brigid’s submissiveness and dependency on Mr. Spade to help her. But later she becomes the dominant figure when she utilizes her monetary wealth to her advantage: “She opened handbag with nervous fingers and put two hundred-dollar bills on Spade’s desk” (Hammett 9). Spade admits his greed when he says, he only “believed [Brigid’s] two hundred dollars” (Hammett 33) and not her story. The narrator illustrates how Spade views money as an adequate payment for his time. Spade and Brigid represent both the real black bird and the fake black bird because of their faulty façade, which cover up their true personalities.
In the film Hancock, Hancock is an archetypal hero because he follows the hero’s journey. Hancock is a vigilante superhero living in the outskirts of Los Angeles, California. His reckless ways cause the city of Los Angeles to essentially dislike the anti- hero. Hancock does more good for himself than he does for the city hence the “anti-hero”. He is disliked until he saves a man who links him to the journey of an archetypal hero.
Ernest Hemingway has the tendency to use his heroes in some unheroic ways. At first the hero may seem obvious, but later on it is discovered that the true hero is not who it seems to be. In A Farewell to Arms Hemingway uses the true hero to guide the main character into becoming a hero, but fails miserably.
A hero is considered to be any man noted for courage or nobility of Purpose; especially, one who has risked or sacrificed his life. In Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the reader can see how McMurphy is a prime example of a hero. McMurphy's strength embodies a heroic devotion to the other acutes on the ward.
By literary definition, an antihero is the "hero" of the play or novel, but has negative attributes that separate him or her from the classic hero such as Superman. Such negative aspects may include a violent nature, use of coarse language, or self-serving interests which may inadvertently depict the protagonist as a hero since the result of serving those interests may be the betterment of society or an environment. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the protagonist, Hamlet, is depicted as an antihero.
Howard Hughes appears to be the world’s most brilliant and eccentric aviator and movie director in the film The Aviator (Mann & Scorsese, 2004). He is admired, wealthy and powerful. However, throughout the course of the film, his eccentricities lead to significant impairment. Paranoia, impulsivity and fears of contamination plague his thoughts and behaviors. He becomes unable to cope with being in public and he cannot maintain personal or professional relationships. As a result, Howard is left isolated, losing his social support and success. It is evident that he has symptoms that are characteristic of both obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar I disorder. His behaviors become so impairing and distressing that they impact every sphere of
The anti-hero is useless at being a hero when they should be one or have the opportunity to be one. Typically an ordinary, timid, selfish, anti-social, inept, cautious, passive, pessimistic person, they still manage to gain the sympathy of the reader. Usually unglamorous, many wallow in self-pity which only worsens their state of mind. Anti-heros rarely succeed at any goal set before them. Summed up in two words - failed heros. T. S. Elliot's “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a fantastic example of the modern anti-hero. A glimpse into the stream of consciousness of Prufrock reveals his secret struggles to handle a world he has no control over. Prufrock displays numerous characteristics of an anti-hero but three stand out the most: cowardice, passiveness, and pessimism.