Kerry wrote:
Sam Spade throws over the possibility of love
(romantic transcendence, and I think a metaphor for Christian
transcendence) and declines the chase for whatever "dreams
are made of" (an empty icon for transcendence) in order to
survive as an individual and a businessman.
***************************************************** The
moment Miles Archer was murdered, Spade knew Bridget
O'Shannessey was involved in it up to her eyebrows. He made
love to her because he knew that was what she would need, to
believe she was manipulating him. But he was never under her
spell. The "Dream" speech is the dawning on Spade of the
exact level of sociopathy he was dealing in. It's only then
that he discovers there is not a shred of truth to the whole
scenario which was the reason for at least 3 deaths we know
about. Spade comes away from this case with a new
understanding of insanity. I don't think he is so cynical he
can never find happiness, himself, however.
--- "Kerry J. Schooley" <
gsp.schoo@murderoutthere.com> wrote:
> At 11:23 PM 26/11/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>
> >If Himes, Goodis, and the writers mentioned in
this
> disucssion
> >believed in or advocated political reform, or
if
> they were dedicated to
> >describing predatory conduct by the haves
against
> the have nots (in
> >crime narratives) they would be radically
different
> works, that we might
> >not think of as noir.
>
> Agreed, if Himes or Goodis wrote different
stories,
> they'd be different
> stories, but I see no reason to preclude
those
> stories from being noir,
> however.
>
> Sam Spade throws over the possibility of
love
> (romantic transcendence, and
> I think a metaphor for Christian transcendence)
and
> declines the chase for
> whatever "dreams are made of" (an empty icon
for
> transcendence) in order
> to survive as an individual and a businessman.
You
> may or may not feel that
> Hammett was advocating political or social
reform,
> but it is a POV that
> suggests the transcendent arts are
dangerous
> distractions from the
> struggles of life. And I think the Maltese Falcon
is
> as much noir as hardboil.
>
> Best,
> Kerry
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------
> Literary events Calendar (South Ont.)
> http://www.lit-electric.com
> The evil men do lives after them
> http://www.murderoutthere.com
>
------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo!
Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 28 Nov 2006 EST