I looked at
Sam Spade last time, but now it’s time to turn to the characters he deals with.
Miles Archer
Miles,
though only seen briefly, seems to fulfill Otto Penzler’s definition of a noir
protagonist. Immediately he flirts with Brigid O’Shaughnessy (still going by
Miss Wonderly at this point), and it is only after his death that readers and
audience learn that he was married.
He steps on Sam’s toes by insisting on being the one to handle Brigid, and this is the action that gets him killed. As Otto predicted, Miles Archer meets his end and is doomed by his own immoral choice. Had he acted as a professional, keeping a cool detachment from the client instead of flirting with her, he very well might still be alive. Sam pointed out that Miles was “just dumb enough” to let Brigid get close. She played him for the sap.
He steps on Sam’s toes by insisting on being the one to handle Brigid, and this is the action that gets him killed. As Otto predicted, Miles Archer meets his end and is doomed by his own immoral choice. Had he acted as a professional, keeping a cool detachment from the client instead of flirting with her, he very well might still be alive. Sam pointed out that Miles was “just dumb enough” to let Brigid get close. She played him for the sap.
Brigid O’Shaugnessey
Her greed
to get the falcon governs her every move, and she readily engages in lying and
playing the damsel in distress to get what she wants. There are no limits to
the web of lies she spreads out for Sam even after Miles’s death. The fear of
discovery is what caused her to murder Miles, and she would have had no
difficulty in killing anyone else to get what she wanted. It is only Sam’s
desire not to be the sap that makes her one of these loser characters, elsewise
she would have gotten away with the entire affair.
Joel Cairo
The effete
and immediately hostile Joel Cairo is quite the comic loser character when
immediately punched out by Sam, when he screams under assault from Brigid, and by
becoming subservient to Kasper Gutman. He is a character who never had the
ability to prosper, and while he likely does not have the stomach to pull the
trigger on Sam, he doesn’t hesitate to offer bribes or participate in the
cover-up of Thursby’s and Archer’s murder.
Wilmer
Wilmer
comes across as a tough-as-nails gunsel, but he is completely dependent on
Gutman. He is not so much a real character as a tool to be pointed at others.
He kills Floyd Thursby with no hesitation, and has little problem in throwing
his attitude and gun around despite not having the size to back it up. He is a
magnet for trouble and not careful in his actions. Clearly his choice to put
his trust and faith in Gutman is ill-thought out. He’s doomed from the
beginning.
Kasper Gutman
Gutman
comes across as a larger-than-life character (pun intended). He can’t rely on flirtation
and seduction the way Brigid does, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to
charm spade with lengthy double-talk, a genial attitude, and the promise of
wealth. Clearly he is a man without morals, simply doing whatever it takes to
achieve his goal of the falcon, even giving up his associate, whom he loves
like a son, with no difficulty.
I think I’m
going to save my wrap up on this for later. Probably after my next post, even.
I want to take a look at the other great detective novelist, Raymond Chandler,
in his great book, The Big Sleep.
After that I might come to some kind of wrap up.
This topic
is more complicated than I initially thought. Stay tuned.