'Research Paper the Maltese Falcon: Existentialism Essay\r'

'Dashiell Hammett, father of the American hard-boiled genre, is astray known for producing a suffocating land of naive realism in his works (â€Å" inured fiction”). According to Paul Abraham’s â€Å"On re-reading The Maltese run,” the realistic cash dispenser of Hammett’s third refreshful is extreme right-winger to the post-war turmoil in which the work was born(p) (97). This provides the ideal foundation for subtle philosophical c at oncepts of existential philosophy such as, quests for equity, ego identification, and the importation of existence to build end-to-end the novel.\r\nRichard layperson, in his critical review of Hammett’s novel ( alike titled The Maltese hunt), proposes that the philosophies of Hammett’s extension can be found at heart the text of his novel (71). Hammett conveys an existential al-Qaida in his work The Maltese Falcon done his use of ideas of inquiry and egotism absorbed characters as hale a s his Flitcraft parable. existentialism, in a simple form, is a philosophy concerning existence and its substance.\r\nLayman asserts that â€Å"[existentialism] had its grow in the mid-nineteenth century and flourished in the f every(prenominal) in States from the thirties until the 1960s” (71). According to the sack-article â€Å" knowledge domain War I” from the newly instauration Encyclopedia, subsequent to the Great War, â€Å"the optimism for world peaceableness of the 1900s was entirely g matchless. ” Therefore, without the blinders of social optimism, American golf club could question ideas such as, the occurrence of spile destruction in a â€Å" exactly” world and the entailment of existence in such a world.\r\nHammett’s at first hand experience with the existential crisisâ€caused by what the diachronic context from the website â€Å"The Maltese Falcon” presents as global wars, the Great Depression, and other struggle s of the 1930sâ€leads Hammett to employ different techniques throughout his work, providing subtle allusions to existentialism. One regularity through which Hammett conveys existential philosopheric persuasion is through his themes of inquiry in The Maltese Falcon. The plot is centered on the free burning quest for an idolized pictorial matterâ€the Maltese falcon, a precious bejeweled bird.\r\nHammett incorporates an ecclesiastical theme through this pursuit of an icon. The quest for their icon ultimately leads to the demise of the characters involved in its seem. It steals the identity and climatically the lifespan of the mob-boss Gutman. Brigid, the femme fatale, also loses in this pursuit, for she is left to the mercy of the legal philosophy in the final pages. Whether death or imprisonment plagues the characters involved, the quest for an icon consumes their lives. Hammett illuminates the unhealthful importees of such quests through the aforementioned neediness of identity, life, and freedom.\r\nThis message is countered by the existentialistic denouncement of all icons. existentialism provides a simple resolve for such futile quests: lives be non wasted in the bet of an icon. In pursuit of a precious icon, all characters lose themselvesâ€a root of the existentialist crisis: loss of self, questioning of existence (â€Å"Existentialism”). Another theme of inquiry in Hammett’s novel deals with the constant search for the truth. Spade, the protagonist, is tormented by the ambiguity of truth throughout the novel.\r\nSpade is forced to screw lies from the truth in spite of appearance the first pages of the novel, where he meets Brigid, or rather â€Å"Miss Wonderly” as she is dubbed upon primary introduction. Brigid, notorious for her deceitful ways, confesses to Spade, once an invested relationship is established between the devil: â€Å"I am a prevaricator. I have always been a liar” (353). Layman obser ves that â€Å"the challenge for Spade in the book is to make up the rules as he goes along; to decide for himself, without extraneous guidance, what he believes and what he believes in” (71). These decisions execute Spade’s actions and help to lay his character.\r\nSpade, concerning himself â€Å"with the quest for relevance and authenticity,” as David Pickus writes in his expose on existentialism, is not the exclusively character involved in the search for truth (17). Brigid, Gutman, Cairo, and Wilmer are forced to beat to terms with the quest for truth and authenticity when it is discovered their falcon is a unsullied fabrication of the true Maltese falcon. later on shaving the black enamel from the small of the falcon Gutman exclaims â€Å"it’s a fake. ” Gutman reacts with his â€Å" steer [hissing] between his teeth” and â€Å"his face [becoming] round with hot blood” (430).\r\nThis is representative of the enkindle Gut man possesses upon the realization of this on-going search for authenticity. Another method in which Hammett unveils existentialistic undertones is through his self-absorbed characters. Layman writes about Spade: â€Å"He is defining who he is. That is the simplest statement of the philosophy of existentialism…” (71). Spade relies solely on himself and much stretches the hands of the law. He undermines the police in order to prevent interference within his investigations, denouncing their authority.\r\nFor example, when Dundy, a police officer tells Spade, â€Å"You’ve gotten international with this and you’ve gotten away with that, but you can’t keep it up forever. ” Spade nerveless(prenominal)ly replies: â€Å"Stop me when you can” (341). The article from the ism website, titled â€Å"Existentialism” states that â€Å"an existentialist believes that a person should be forced to study and be responsible without the help of laws, heathen rules, or traditions. ” Spade epitomizes this idea with his actions throughout the novel. Brigid is another character who does not play within the realm of laws and rules; however, she is a less responsible character than Spade.\r\nBrigid’s efforts are invested into self-preservation. She continuously fights to stay one measuring rod ahead of everyone through creating a web of lies, which ultimately becomes a defining fraction of her character. Her deceitfulness and obsession with obtaining her desires without concern for consequence or reputation demonstrates her loss of self in pursuit of something worthless; she becomes nil more than a wanton char with no true identity. In accessory to his characterization, Hammett also utilizes the Flitcraft parable as a means of conveying existentialistic thought.\r\nMartin Harris writes: â€Å"The Flitcraft parable has been examined closely by those who see the story providing an key key to Hammettâ€⠄¢s feelings about the core (or lack thitherof) of human existence” (241). The Flitcraft parable tells the story of a man who all changed his life in consequence of one random event. Flitcraft, a satisfied family man, encountered a closemouthed death experience via a construction beam plummeting into his path. This event make him contemplate the randomness of lifeâ€there are no certainties. Spade tells Brigid: â€Å"[Flitcraft] entangle like somebody had taken the lid off life and let him looking at the works” (335).\r\nFlitcraft understood the uncertainty of life after this experience. With this epiphany Flitcraft began a unused life; he took the randomness of life and incorporated it into his existence. Aware of mortality and the significance of one’s identity, Flitcraft exposed himself to an understudy life. While Flitcraft ultimately ended up settling back into his prior lifestyle, the afterglow of his near death experience permitted him to revel in existentialism, for according to the web-article â€Å"Existentialism” the search of self-being is a fundamental element of the existential philosophy.\r\nWhether it is through various themes, characters, or a well placed anecdote, the undertones of existentialism exist within the pages of Hammett’s novel. Hammett effectively incorporated themes from his date into his literature. In a time where the â€Å" scent of optimism in society was destroyed,” Hammett acknowledged realism within the text of his art (â€Å"Existentialism”). While existentialism no nightlong has an intoxicating hold on modern society, it lives in the pages of influential authors. The Maltese Falcon’s subtle cues to such capital philosophical ideas assist in the significance that Hammett’s works hold to this day.\r\n whole caboodle Cited Abrahams, Paul P. â€Å"On re-reading The Maltese Falcon. ” journal of American Culture 18. 1 (1995): 97-107. academicia n Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 15 July 2010. Dooley, Dennis. Dashiell Hammett. New York: F. Ungar Pub. , 1984. Print. â€Å"Existentialism. ” Philosophy. AllAboutPhilosophy. org, 2010. Web. 01 Aug. 2010. . Hammett, Dashiell. The Novels of Dashiell Hammett. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965. Print. â€Å"Hard-boiled Fiction. ” Encyclop? dia Britannica, 2010. Web. 30 July 2010. . Harris, Martin. â€Å"Hammett’s Flitcraft Parable, The Stepfather, and the logical implication of Falling Beams. ” lit Film every quarter 34.\r\n3 (2006): 240-248. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 15 July 2010. Layman, Richard. The Maltese Falcon. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Print. â€Å"The Maltese Falcon. ” The Big Read. National endowment for the Arts, 2010. Web. 16 July 2010. . Metress, Christopher, ed. The Critical Response to Dashiell Hammett. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1994. Print. Pickus, David. â€Å"Paperback Authenticity: Walter Kaufmann and Existentialism . ” Philosophy and Literature 34. 1 (2010): 17-31. Philosopher’s Index. EBSCO. Web. 31 July 2010. â€Å" reality War I. ” New World Encyclopedia. 09 may 2008. Web. 06 Aug. 2010.\r\n'