Jim,
I gotta agree with you. In arguing about the difference
between amoral and immoral acts, I got pretty far afield from
my initial assertion that Marlowe is moral. He may sometimes
be forced to do questionable things in his quest to do the
moral thing, but that is always his motive, his higher
calling, if you will. As a matter of fact, I can't think of
anyone in hardboiled fiction that I would place above Marlowe
in terms of morality.
I also appreciated the way you broke it all down, especially
the two-fold effect. I'm curious, though (seriously, not a
crap remark), would the same reasoning make Mike Hammer
moral? (Except, maybe, in his sexual practices -- even though
the women are always more than willing, at least in I the
Jury he was cheating on his fiancee -- can't believe anyone
doesn't already know the following, but SPOILER -- even if
she did turn out to be the murderer OVER.) Clearly Hammer's
intent is moral, but what about his taking on the role of
judge, jury and executioner for himself?
Mark
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