--- Nathan Cain <
IndieCrime@gmail.com> wrote:
> I disagree. I think Brigid was acting
rationally
> when she deceived
> Spade and Archer.
The only rationality in O'Shaunghnessy's behavior is on her
own terms. Every day private detectives are asked to recover
missing or stolen items. Cairo comes into Spades office and
tells him what he wants him to locate. Now the idea of also
mugging him in his own office shows that Cairo is also out of
touch but he's trying. O'Shaunghnessy comes in with a
half-baked tale about a sister who doesn't exist. We have no
reason to think Floyd Thursby is a killer except that
O'Shaughnessy tells us he is. Spade quickly susses that
Thursby and Jacoby think they're helping a damsel in
distress. She's completely crazy. The fact that she MAY
profit from her scheme if she can pull it off in no way
mitigates her delusion. Most psychotics do profit from their
illness. On the other hand, does O'Shaughnessy have any idea
what she'll do with the Falcon if she gets it? How she'll
sell it? Sell it back to the Greek they stole it from? On
these questions, the book is silent. Manipulating your mother
into marrying a millionaire is greedy scheming. Murdering
people to acquire a "dingus" is completely delusional.
> Now, on a certain level, I do agree with you
about
> the people pursuing
> the Falcon being a bit nuts. They're obsessed, but
I
> don't think
> they're psychotic. Their actions make too
much
> sense.
Well, I've given you my definition of psychotic fairly
extensively and these folks fit the shoe. What's your
definition of psychotic? How crazy do people have to be in
your book? These people are about as delusional as people can
be without blabbering. One can argue that much of Guttman's
condescending diatribe is blabbering. How do you think his
"history of the Falcon" played during his trial? Ted Bundy is
saner than any of these Falcon hunters!
Patrick King
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