Crack

In the first few chapters of, gun, with occasional music, I began to pick up on something I found interesting that may or may not have anything to do with the overall plot, purpose, or outcome of the novel. I found it a bit intriguing based on prior readings we had done. I found it interesting that virtually every character thus far has done some form of crack or cocaine or something similar.

While many characters have seemingly been drug attics, the one that intrigued me the most was Metcalf, our protagonist, or detective, or “hero.” Or at least he supposed to be a hero according to Chandler, the man who thought in every good detective novel the detective should be a real hero. Maybe I’m a little naive or conservative, but I just don’t imagine a hero doing any sort of drugs or any legal activity at all.

With that said, maybe Lethem doesn’t believe in the same philosophy as Chandler, maybe he doesn’t see the detective as a hero or “knight in shinning armor,” at all. What does this make him then? How are we to view this guys character, who is he and why does he do what he does? There is a chance that these questions have no barring on the plot or the outcome of the novel, but I will ask them any way because it is the first significantly different detail from all the other works we have studied thus far. I do though, hope to see as the novel plays out, this question of character turn into an answer and play some significant role in how the case is solved and how the novel is written in terms of Metcalf’s Character.

I suppose I will just wait and see.