RARA-AVIS: Re: Does Hard Boiled have a philosophy?

From: Jacques Debierue ( matrxtech@yahoo.com)
Date: 13 May 2005


--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, bsandyman@a... wrote:
> There have been several good discussion in recent months about the Existentialist
underpinnings of the noir genre. Does Hard Boiled have a similar background, and if so, what is it?
>
> Off the cuff,
>
> Agressive Stoicism?
>
> To (badly) paraphrase DeCarte, "I been hard done by, therefore I'm going to break some
heads!"

I don't know that there is a philosophy, but there's a determined attitude to go through with it until a solution is reached (or, in the case of Lew Archer, until everybody has sunk). Beyond this determination, the various PIs and other operators can vary widely in attitudes, motivations and modus operandi. The latter ranges from practically nonviolent
(Mario Balzic) to ultraviolent (Mike Hammer), with lots in between. Probably "reluctantly violent" is the most common attitude in our fictional heroes.

Best,

MrT

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