The Maltese Falcon: This Bird Is Not the WordEssay Preview: The Maltese Falcon: This Bird Is Not the WordReport this essayThe Maltese Falcon:This Bird is not the WordâThe best mystery ever written was The Maltese Falcon.â – RossMacdonald, Canadian crime fiction writer. Dashiell Hammettâs novel, The Maltese Falcon, has garnered praise for eighty-five years. Frequently heralded as the âmother of all detective fictionâ and a âmodern classicâ, the Maltese Falcon was the original private eye story. However I was less than impressed. Due to sub-par writing, unengaging characters and a weak plot, a disappointing overall theme in terms of relatability and humanity, the Maltese Falcon does not live up to its status as classic literature, nor the best mystery ever written.
Dashiell Hammett is often commended for his unique writing style. Although many enjoy his grit, I was bored by his simple writing, the amount of mundane detail, and his third person limited narrative. Third person limited narrative is a common writing style, and often a positive one. In this case though, it was more of a hindrance to enjoyment and understanding than anything. Lack of any sort of justification for the characters somewhat erratic behaviour made any sort of emotional connection nearly impossible. Did Brigid OâShaughnessy really love Samuel Spade? What about the other way around? If Sam did love Brigid, why would he turn her in? Some may justify such a narrative by saying that the limited expression of emotions meant that the actions were all the more meaningful and telling. In my opinion all it did was weaken emotional appeal, and as a result make the novel very unengaging.
Hammetts often praised gritty and simple writing style was in my eyes another hindrance to enjoyment of the novel. Originally serialized in a magazine, Black Mask, in 1929, the story was targeted towards the masses, so action and simple english were necessary. Maybe enjoyable to the less educated populace of the time, The Maltese Falconâs short sentences and simple vocabulary take away from the imagery of the story. Imagery is necessary to create escapism for the reader. Sentences like âHis skin was fair.â (pg.93, The Maltese Falcon) do not evoke strong images for the reader.
The novel is also written in a very linear fashion. The experience of reading the novel is a bit like reading a list of events, not a well rounded story. Notice the choppy sentences, simple word choice and how it makes for a boring reading experience in the following passage:
âThey kissed. She went into the Coronet. He told the chauffeur: âHotel Belvedere.ââ (pg.93, The Maltese Falcon)The third criticism I have of Dashiell Hammetts writing is his incessant detail of the most inconsequential events and objects. While some commend this objective style of writing, most find it tedious. When Samuel Spades partner is shot, we get no insight into his feelings, rather this passage:
âSpadeâs thick fingers made a cigarette with deliberate care, sifting a measured quantity of tan flakes down into curved paper, spreading the flakes so that they lay equal at the ends with a slight depression in the middle, thumbs rolling the papers inner edge down and up under the outer edge as forefingers pressed it over, thumbs and fingers sliding to the paper cylinderâs ends to hold it even while tongue licked the flap, left forefinger and thumb pinching their end while the right forefinger and thumb smoothed the damp seam, right forefinger and thumb twisting their end and lifting the other to Spadeâs mouth.â (pg. 11-12, The Maltese Falcon)
This passage is not only tedious to read, but painful! The subject matter is irrelevant, the detail unnecessary, and is a substitute for any legitimate depth or character development.
Writing styles arenât the only weak aspect of The Maltese Falcon. Itâs characters and plot are both one-dimensional and unengaging. Our main character, Samuel Spade, Private Eye, is very one-dimensional. His only defining characteristics are his masculinity and coldness. Readers like to relate to the characters of a story, and the character of Samuel Spade is one of the most cliche and depthless out there. The empty characters are a result of both lack of creativity, and the third person limited narrative. Sam Spade isnât the only superficial, cliche character in the novel either, thereâs Casper Gutman (Gutman? Heâs an obese mob boss!) and Joel Cairo (Cairo? Heâs from the middle east!). Not only are these characters boring, theyâre nearly impossible to sympathize with.
The Maltese Falcon does not have all the bad. Its main character, Samuel Spade (which refers to himself as a “fairy” in the novel), is a simple man. There are multiple problems, especially the ending. The main character (who we know to be Samuel Spade) does not have many skills, his training in self-defense is not strong enough to handle the pressure he receives at all. He is also also weak. After having taken a job at the casino, Samuel wants to buy a house in the neighboring town, so when his parents decide to split the property up into two, he is able to stay put by himself. When his mother arrives and asks for his help for his son, Samuel tells her that the plan is a nightmare, as he needs the money to live, his family decides to split his business (aside to his business being bankrupt). The story suffers from the lack of a “gift-giving” narrative throughout, there is only one man to aid Samuel, and he is simply unable to understand why the two of them feel they need that help. Unfortunately for Jack, there were just no gifts left in his life, a broken heart, and a child who was already struggling because of his mom. In fact Casper Gutman comes up with all the jokes, which makes the ending feel like a lost cause. He tries to be an innocent young man, but eventually he loses his sense of purpose in life, which puts him in the predicament of wanting to be a soldier with a friend, rather than have any kind of real family to help. Casper is kind to Samuel, but is he also more than that? Samuel’s father wants nothing more than to have him have his own family – which he can’t provide. When he learns that his daughter has been separated in his life, he feels he needs to come home and find out what is happening to her, which ultimately leads to a great deal of grief and loss for Sam. Samuel’s father tries to make a deal with him without help, but to no avail. Casper’s greatest hope for saving his daughter from losing love is through redemption, but he has to figure out his own way to show her what is right. Casper will be forced to do something to help his friend, but he can’t come to terms with the fact that this will lead to more hardships and even worse suffering for him. He feels like he has to give in, if not give in, at the least accept that he doesn’t need help, or that if they ever make a breakthrough, he may not look so good once the realisation of what is happening to his daughter is revealed. By the end of the arc, Sam’s journey is about to lose his sense of himself, as Casper’s true motive for wanting to serve his family gets revealed. The story is not a story because it is one-dimensional but because it
The Maltese Falcon does not have all the bad. Its main character, Samuel Spade (which refers to himself as a “fairy” in the novel), is a simple man. There are multiple problems, especially the ending. The main character (who we know to be Samuel Spade) does not have many skills, his training in self-defense is not strong enough to handle the pressure he receives at all. He is also also weak. After having taken a job at the casino, Samuel wants to buy a house in the neighboring town, so when his parents decide to split the property up into two, he is able to stay put by himself. When his mother arrives and asks for his help for his son, Samuel tells her that the plan is a nightmare, as he needs the money to live, his family decides to split his business (aside to his business being bankrupt). The story suffers from the lack of a “gift-giving” narrative throughout, there is only one man to aid Samuel, and he is simply unable to understand why the two of them feel they need that help. Unfortunately for Jack, there were just no gifts left in his life, a broken heart, and a child who was already struggling because of his mom. In fact Casper Gutman comes up with all the jokes, which makes the ending feel like a lost cause. He tries to be an innocent young man, but eventually he loses his sense of purpose in life, which puts him in the predicament of wanting to be a soldier with a friend, rather than have any kind of real family to help. Casper is kind to Samuel, but is he also more than that? Samuel’s father wants nothing more than to have him have his own family – which he can’t provide. When he learns that his daughter has been separated in his life, he feels he needs to come home and find out what is happening to her, which ultimately leads to a great deal of grief and loss for Sam. Samuel’s father tries to make a deal with him without help, but to no avail. Casper’s greatest hope for saving his daughter from losing love is through redemption, but he has to figure out his own way to show her what is right. Casper will be forced to do something to help his friend, but he can’t come to terms with the fact that this will lead to more hardships and even worse suffering for him. He feels like he has to give in, if not give in, at the least accept that he doesn’t need help, or that if they ever make a breakthrough, he may not look so good once the realisation of what is happening to his daughter is revealed. By the end of the arc, Sam’s journey is about to lose his sense of himself, as Casper’s true motive for wanting to serve his family gets revealed. The story is not a story because it is one-dimensional but because it
These characters could be alright too, that is if they experienced any growth. Character growth is one of the most important aspects of any novel. The events of the story should ultimately change our protagonist, showing that the events were at least fairly significant to our protagonist as a person. In The Maltese Falcon, Sam Spade walks out the very same masculine and cold man he was before. This is, as always, a result of poor writing, but also a very weak plot.
People enjoy detective novels for their intricate plots and many twists and turns. The Maltese Falcon, however, had one of the most uneventful, predictable, and half-baked plots Iâve ever encountered. Hammettâs story often gains praise for its realism, as he once