After reading the first eleven or so chapters of The Big Sleep I am starting to understand the purpose of a detective novel. This novel in particular has given me insight that I never would have imagined. The Big Sleep is written in such a way; that the readers themselves must act as a detective. The protagonist Mr. Marlowe is not the only person trying to figure things out. The reader is trying to not only figure the case with Mr. Marlowe, but they are also trying to figure out Mr. Marlowe.

We don’t find out a whole lot about Mr. Marlowe in these first few chapters. We find out that he is a private detective and he is very unemotional. When in the face of sex, drugs, alcohol, and violence in these first few chapters he is unaffected and acts as if it’s the norm. As a reader I start to question why Mr. Marlowe acts this way towards these different situations that would typically illicit a much more wild response. Since I don’t understand his reactions, I want to continue reading and try to find out why he reacts this way.

After reading these chapters I have come to the realization that detective novels are written for entertainment. However, entertainment is not the only reason for these novels. They are written to make you think. Most other novels just allow you to follow along and not really have to think much on your own to understand. This detective novel however, requires you to think on your own and to try and figure things out on your own in order to be able to follow Mr. Marlowe. The reader in a sense is trying to figure out two different cases. They are trying to figure out the protagonist, and then they are also trying to figure out the case that the protagonist is on.