"My best example of amorality in crime fiction is the
brilliant insurance investigator in _Double Indemnity_,
Keyes. He saves his company by deceiving Walter about what
will happen if he escapes via boat at the end of the novel.
He betrays Walter in every way: trapping him on board with
death-bound Phyllis and then informing the ship's captain and
police who Phyllis and Walter really are. Nothing personal;
he likes Walter. But he likes his company, his reputation,
and Lola better. They are all better off without
Walter."
Which means that in his mind, Keyes is serving a higher
justice.
Jay, I don't see how your examples (this or Marlowe) are
amoral. They may sometimes pursue "ends justify the means"
strategies, but those ends are very moral, at least in their
intentions. I can see your argument that their actions may be
amoral or even immoral, but I would define the concept by
motive.
To me, if a character believes in right and wrong, he cannot
be amoral, only moral or immoral, both of which accept the
validity of the same concept, whether or not they choose to
do right -- to give an extreme example, Satanists (at least
pop culture ones, don't know any real ones, well, none that I
know of) define themselves in oppostion to good to such a
degree that they say prayers backwards. Amorality means
someone does not even accept or even acknowledge right and
wrong, but lives by his or her own rules.
Marlowe's motives are pure. Parker's is profit. Marlowe
believes in right and wrong -- it may not always line up with
legality and it may sometimes require dealing with, even
compromising with wrong people to bring it about, but he
tries very hard to make things right, sometimes to his own
detriment. Parker only looks out for himself-- he deals in
purely situational ethics, pursuing that which will most
efficiently achieve his goals; he recognizes legality only to
the degree that is required to avoid its enforcers, since
being caught would hinder his goals.
Mark
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