In some ways, the PI acts as the sin-eater -- a person in a
community who
usually lives apart from the rest of the community in
self-exile because he
is metaphorically unclean: he carries the sin of the other
community
members. Similarly, the PI roots out the sin, the rot in his
community
(which can change, since he is a mobile character) and is
ostracized by
those he encounters in that community -- the people involved
in his
investigation and the legal authorities, who usually disdain
freelance
interlopers into their jurisdiction.
PI as PI or PI as sin-eater, the PI is a lone wolf, just as
Frederick
suggests. However, as he also mentions, the lone-wolf image
nowadays has
its negative side: the outsider who tries to break into the
community by
lashing out violently at that community. This, I think, would
make a
dynamite premise for a PI novel (which doesn't mean someone
hasn't already
done it -- some of Vacchs' work may fit the bill, in fact).
-- Duane
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