Realistic Hero

Philip Marlowe a hero; if there were enough like him, maybe, “the world would be a very safe place to live in, and yet not too dull to be worth living in.” (Chandler, “The Simple Art of Murder”) So maybe this is a bit of a stretch, how can a hero have such little concern for rules or authority? How can a hero seem so distant, disliked, disinterested?

So, maybe, Marlowe isn’t the knight in shining armor that we all envision when we think of a hero. This doesn’t mean he can’t still be a hero or a “good man” that lives up to the ideals of Chandler. I would argue that Marlowe is that guy who is rude with wit, has a lively sense of the grotesque, a disgust for sham, and contempt for pettiness. I would also add that it is these ideals that make Marlowe real.

Marlowe obviously does not work solely for the money, as Chandler puts it, “He is a relatively poor man, or he would not be a detective at all.” So there has to be some ulterior motive to go through the experiences necessary to be a good detective for little pay. I feel that Marlowe literally enjoys helping people; he does what he does for the client. I feel this is what makes him real, you don’t see Firemen/ women or police men and women at the top of the Forbes wealthiest people list or any where near it; they do it for the thrill and the satisfaction of helping someone. Sure he and his fellow “hero’s” do earn a little something to make it worth wile, just not enough to be the only motive. I would argue that in how Marlowe interacts with Carmen and how he protects the General in chapter 8 and again in front of Cronjeger, he is showing some emotional concern for the family, not too deep, at least not yet, just enough to give him that alternative motive that makes all the work worth his time and energy.

Is he real? Does the book contain some realism? I would argue yes, it does. I do believe that it pushes the line of being idealistic but it still manages to work in enough practical emotion and relationships to Marlowe’s character to be believable.
-Brad