Not so Golden After All

In Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled crime fiction, The Big Sleep, Philip Marlowe is portrayed as a private eye in the corrupt city of Los Angeles. He is hired by a wealthy man, General Sternwood, to determine who is blackmailing Sternwood’s daughter Carmen Sternwood. Carmen fills the role of the femme fatal who Marlowe finds himself rescuing throughout the entire novel. The novel tells a tale of murder, betrayal, schemers, and corruption in the sunny city of Los Angeles. 

Since 1968 California has held the nickname “The Golden State” mainly for the expectations of the glitz and glam that Hollywood and Los Angeles are famous for; however, The Big Sleep portrays the alternative side full of fraudulent behavior and violence. The opening scene depicts Marlowe in a powder-blue suit saying, “I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars” (3). Marlowe’s appearance is crucial because it emphasizes the importance of money in this society. Marlowe is willing to do whatever will please his client in order to get the four million dollars. This creates an attitude for the remainder of the novel where characters are willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get what they want. Throughout the novel it is interpreted that many characters end up in the life of crime not because they chose to but because they have no other lifestyle to turn to. Harry Jones says to Marlowe, “She's a grifter, shamus. I'm a grifter. We're all grifters. So we sell each other out for a nickel...” (168). The 1930s era contributes to the pessimistic attitude Harry Jones has for the crime in Los Angeles. He attributes the crime rate to the fact that no one has anything to lose so they join a life of felony.

From the beginning of the novel Philip Marlowe is depicted as a knight whose job it is to rescue the Sternwood daughters. Upon entering the house for the first time Marlowe observes a stain glass mural above the doorway of a knight attempting to rescue a damsel in distress. Marlowe thinks to himself, “if I lived in the house, I would sooner or later have to climb up there and help him” (4). Marlowe becomes the hero and protector for the Sternwood girls because their main protector (their father) is no longer in the condition to save his daughters from villains and predators. This observation is significant because from the first moment Marlowe steps in to the Sternwood home he understands his duty. When General Sternwood meets Marlowe for the first time and assigns him the task of finding out who is blackmailing his daughter Carmen he says, “Vivian is spoiled, exacting, smart and quite ruthless. Carmen is a child who likes to pull wings off flies. Neither of them has anymore moral sense than a cat. Neither have I. No Sternwood ever had” (13). Marlowe recognizes that Sternwood’s daughters are much more wicked than General Sternwood sees them but decides that it is important to protect General Sternwood from seeing the truth about his daughters. Throughout the entire novel Marlowe is forced to come to Carmen’s rescue: first, the night when Geiger was shot and Carmen was sitting in his living room naked, to eventually witnessing Carmen end up naked in his [Marlowe’s] bed. When Marlowe sees Carmen in his bed he remarks, “Knights had no meaning in this game. It wasn't a game for knights” (156). Marlowe identifies the corruption and deceit in Los Angeles and realizes that there is no place for him in this society because it is dominated by the kings and queens. He submits to this defeat upon killing Canino and finding his place among all the other criminals in Los Angeles. 

Los Angeles in the 1930s

The city of Los Angeles is responsible for de-armoring Marlowe of his knightly lifestyle. Marlowe wants to be able to protect the people of the city from the corruption and crime that takes place but he realizes that no matter how much he tries to protect Carmen Sternwood she will always find trouble. In the finale of the book Marlowe believes he does not deserve the money from Mr. Sternwood because he has not held true to his honor and has fallen like the rest of society.