ipl-logo

The Dynamic Character Of Sam Spade In The Maltese Falcon

772 Words4 Pages

The Maltese Falcon was a detective novel written by Dashiell Hammett in 1929. It takes place in foggy San Francisco in the late 1920’s. Its eerie description is the perfect setting for a detective solving a crime, with murder and mayhem. In this novel Dashiell brings to life several different characters, each with their own traits. Sam Spade is the private detective and the protagonist of The Maltese Falcon, his characterization is described as that of a round, and dynamic character with an indirect revelation. Sam Spade’s description is written as a round character because it is hard to understand what his intentions are throughout the novel. You are unable to tell if his character is driven by financial gain, or self-preservation to clear …show more content…

In the beginning of the novel Sam comes across as a nice guy, a little sexist but willing to help his new client find her sister or so he thinks. As time goes on Sam becomes deceptive and is able to manipulate many of the other characters. He shows little respect for authority and comes across with a hard and shifty personality. An example of this is how he gets himself out of situations with the police each …show more content…

His voice was placid, almost amused, but his face was not. “Well, I’ve got better grounds than that, or grounds that suit me better. My clients are entitled to a decent amount of secrecy. Maybe I can be made to talk to a Grand Jury or even a Coroner’s Jury, but I haven’t been called before either yet, and it’s a cinch. I’m not going to advertise my clients’ business until I have to. Then again, you and the police have both accused me of being mixed up in the other night’s murderers. I’ve had trouble with both of you before. As far as I can see, my best chance of clearing myself of the trouble you’re trying to make for me is by bringing in the murderers-all tied up. And my only chance of ever catching them and tying them up and bringing them in is by keeping away from you and the police, because neither of you show any signs of knowing what the hell it’s all about.” (149) Sam also deceives Brigid by spending the night with her, leading her to believe that he is in love with her or cares about her only to turn her into the police at the end of the

Show More
Related
537 Words | 3 Pages

A true classic should be able to stand the test of time, and still be relatable to readers. The Maltese Falcon was written in the 1920's, nearly ninety-seven years old and is still recognized and read today. It was the beginning of the detective and mystery genre. This book not only had a significant impact on the detective genre, but also in the film industry. The novel was turned into a movie three times, each with several adaptations of the story.

Read More
1733 Words | 7 Pages

Athanasourelis’s article depicts Sam Spade’s individuality through his actions leading up to Brigid O’Shaughnessy’s conviction. Sam’s initial intentions are to help Brigid avoid the police. Upon coming to the conclusion that Brigid is the only suspect in the murder of Archer, Sam knows he has to turn her into the authorities. The article discusses that although it may seem as if Sam is acting justly, he is truly just turning Brigid in to avoid his own persecution for the crimes others committed. Hammett establishes Sam’s morals frequently throughout the novel by further describing his character as a “hard-boiled detective”.

Read More
793 Words | 4 Pages

PROTAGONIST - A protagonist s the main charcarcter that we can relate to, well that relatable character for gals is Samanthat Baker in Sixteen Candles, directed by John Hughes. At some point of our female lives, we will (at some point) crush on someone who 's probably way out of our league, and probably will do nothing about it. I say that it 's us girls who can relate to this movie because the protagonist is a girl, it doesn 't mean that guys won 't crush on people who are way out of their leagues as well, because they at, some point of their lives, probably do too. Samantha Baker is an awkward, moody teenager, who has a love/hate relationship with her family and is in love with a boy who seems completely unattainable and out of her league. This realistic portrayal of adolescence sets the film apart from many others in its genre because Samantha is nothing like the one-dimensional teen characters found in many movies.

Read More
522 Words | 3 Pages

He isn’t the bad guy per say, but he has many different views then Sam. In the army Courtney isn’t a field officer. He stays home and makes plans and gives orders. Sam doesn’t find any solace with Courtney even though they do about the same things. Sam on the other hand is very hands-on type of soldier and want’s to fight with his men not telling them what to do with the safety of a command room.

Read More
776 Words | 4 Pages

The protagonist of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, Samuel Spade, is a very mysterious man; one who trusts only himself. He solves the problems he encounters alone, and without the help of authority. To him, both the laws and ideas of morality get in the way of his work as a detective. This leads to assumptions that, as a person, he is immoral, to the extent that he is considered similar to the devil. There are comparisons between him and the devil throughout the novel -

Read More
1436 Words | 6 Pages

Is the leading female characters are always supporting or needing the support from the main male protagonist? Well it maybe for many female lead characters, but not for the murderous and deceiving Brigid O’Shaughnessy from Dashiell Hammett novel the Maltese Falcon. Brigid could be considered as one of those femme fatales that might be beautiful, dependent, and helpless in the outside but in the inside Brigid is evil, deceiving, and could backstab you when you are not looking. How and why Brigid may be the evil woman that Hammett’s novel made her out to be?

Read More
1120 Words | 5 Pages

Who is the Real Hero in A&P? During the story of "A&P" by John Updike, the narrator playing the main character Sammy has a really negative view on the place that he works, and also a negative view of the people that choose to shop in the store. Sammy is portrayed to be a typical nineteen-year-old boy who doesn't act on his beliefs until three random half dressed girls spark his interest. He is really bitter towards the customers and towards the whole entire store in general but only chooses to speak up about it when he needs to prove himself to the ladies. Sammy acts only on his impulse to prove himself to his boss and the girls, and would not have taken a stand otherwise.

Read More
1012 Words | 5 Pages

N00145563 The Maltese Falcon is a film noir directed by John Huston. The film is based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett of the same name. The film was made and distributed by Warner Bros. and was released in October 1941. In this film, detective Sam Spade, played by Humphrey Bogart, takes on a case from the beautiful but deceptive Miss Wonderly, played by Mary Astor.

Read More
845 Words | 4 Pages

“A&P” is a short story by John Updike about a young man by the name of Sammy. Sammy works at a grocery store by the name of A&P on the east coast, which is smack in the middle of town and 5 miles from the beach. However, Sammy’s dull workplace gets flipped upside down when 3 girls stroll in wearing bathing suits. This changes Sammy’s life forever as he takes a rite of passage to learn about conformity, power, and girls.

Read More
1011 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the course of time women have evolved to better themselves instead of pleasing others. In the novel The Maltese Falcon By Dashiell Hammett has two characters that are important women. These 2 women are key characters to the story to aid in solving the murder mystery. Each woman has completely different personality that clearly displays the change from the stereotypical persona of a woman always being dependent on a man to evolving to this new self sustained woman.

Read More
941 Words | 4 Pages

“A&P” by John Updike is a short story expressing the issues of female objectification and degradation in society by following a young A&P employee’s views (Sammy) as they change through experiences second hand. Sammy goes from stereotyping objectifier to a form of a public defender, standing up for girls who can’t really do so for themselves. Sammy initially characterizes and describes all of the people in the store based on their looks and his initial opinion of them, rather than waiting to make judgements based on their personality, or not at all. He is very critical of looks, and is judgmental about why and how they look or act the way they do.

Read More
539 Words | 3 Pages

Flat characters are not described in depth and you are not given much information about them. They do not have many characteristics about them which I think would make them boring characters. Round characters are described in more depth than flat characters. They have more detail in them and the main character or characters are usually well – rounded. Static characters remain the same throughout the story and do not undergo any changes or very little change.

Read More
803 Words | 4 Pages

I Am Sam is about a father trying to prove to the court system that he should have custody of his daughter, Lucy. Sam Dawson, a father with an intellectual disability, is raising his daughter Lucy with the help of his group of friends. When Lucy turns seven, she begins to surpass her father intellectually. Their bond is threatened when a social worker wants to place Lucy in foster care. Even though the case seems hard to win, Sam declares that he will fight the legal system with an unlikely alliance Rita Harrison.

Read More
152 Words | 1 Pages

"The book is in my opinion really great, the story is brilliant, my favorite character is Sam Spade, and it is particularly interesting love scene which interferes in this thriller. Also what keeps the attention and the conversation between the characters and thus seemed to us indicates that we ourselves detectives. The story is full of plot, full of unexpected events that will amaze you, the reader will not even blink. I have felt so as I read, in the end I was sorry when I got to the end and when I discovered the mystery.

Read More
638 Words | 3 Pages

Later throughout the story, suspense is built up when the police are looking for the suspect and weapon. Mary snarkily says “Why don’t you eat up the

Read More

More about The Dynamic Character Of Sam Spade In The Maltese Falcon

Open Document