Portrayals Of Women In The Big Sleep

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Portrayals of Women in The Big Sleep
In The Big Sleep, women are treated more as objects than human beings. When they are treated like human beings, they are still being viewed as unintelligent, inferior troublemakers who are incapable of doing things for themselves. Often, they are smacked and thrown around like ragdolls and talked down to in a degrading manner.
The character of Carmen Sternwood is one of the main female characters portrayed this way. Following the damsel in distress trope, Carmen is always getting herself into trouble (typically with men) and is portrayed as incapable of getting herself out of trouble. During Chapter 7 of the book, Philip Marlowe finds Carmen in Geiger’s house naked and drunk. Upon finding her, Philip stares