The three works that will be analyzed in this essay are “ Stage to Lordsburg” by Ernest Haycox, “ The Big Sleep” directed by Howard Hawks, and “ Too Many have Lived/They Can Only Hang You Once” by Dashiell Hammett. Each of these works has a unique approach to storytelling, but they all share similar characteristics as well. “Stage of Lordsburg” , “ The Big Sleep” , and “Too Many have Lived” all demonstrate different as well as similar tools in literature, such as characterization and imagery. The use of literary devices are meant to promote an emotional reaction from the reader. They also share common themes and ideas. All three works are successful in their use of literary tools to convey a message and promote a reaction from the audience.
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When describing action-filled scenes in the story, the author provides a detailed description of how the senses may be stimulated if the event were to actually the occur. He describes the landscape of the scene as such; “A hard sun beat fully on the coach and dust began to whip up like fire smoke. Without escort they rolled across a flat earth broken only by cacti standing against a dazzling light. In the far distance, behind a blue heat haze, lay the faint suggestion of mountains.” This description not only gives readers an idea about how the hot sun feels “hard”, when it “beats,” stimulating the sense of touch in the reader’s mind, but also what the background scene looks like as well. This allows reader’s to imagine the way a hot sun feels on a dry day. This gives readers a detailed and complete idea of the author’s vision- a hazy view of far-away mountains, on a hot, dry …show more content…
Each work holds the traditional idea that women are fragile and soft, while the male characters are stronger and more aggressive. Quite often the reader will see that the women of the story are more soft spoken, nurturing, and passive, while the men are more outspoken and dominant. In all three works, all of the male protagonists are seen as intelligent and strong, while it is not the same for the female characters. Masculinity, in literature, is directly connected to characteristics such as strength, intelligence, and rationality, while feminine characters are usually seen as irrational. In “ The Big Sleep” there are only four major female characters, Carmen Sternwood, Vivian Sternwood, Agnes Lozelle, and Mona Grant. Each of these female characters portrays different and rather broad stereotypes of women. Carmen Sternwood embodies the stereotypical idea of a spoiled and sheltered woman with cruel and rude tendencies. She very much fits the “femme fatale” literary role. The femme fatale is described as “fabricated, reconstructed in, and apparently necessary to, the cultural expressions of the...century. She is a powerful and threatening figure, bearing sexuality that is perceived to be rapacious, or fatal to her male partners...she can be a prostitute, man-hunting aristocrat, vampire, African queen, native (black) woman or murderess. She crosses boundaries of
When describing action-filled scenes in the story, the author provides a detailed description of how the senses may be stimulated if the event were to actually the occur. He describes the landscape of the scene as such; “A hard sun beat fully on the coach and dust began to whip up like fire smoke. Without escort they rolled across a flat earth broken only by cacti standing against a dazzling light. In the far distance, behind a blue heat haze, lay the faint suggestion of mountains.” This description not only gives readers an idea about how the hot sun feels “hard”, when it “beats,” stimulating the sense of touch in the reader’s mind, but also what the background scene looks like as well. This allows reader’s to imagine the way a hot sun feels on a dry day. This gives readers a detailed and complete idea of the author’s vision- a hazy view of far-away mountains, on a hot, dry …show more content…
Each work holds the traditional idea that women are fragile and soft, while the male characters are stronger and more aggressive. Quite often the reader will see that the women of the story are more soft spoken, nurturing, and passive, while the men are more outspoken and dominant. In all three works, all of the male protagonists are seen as intelligent and strong, while it is not the same for the female characters. Masculinity, in literature, is directly connected to characteristics such as strength, intelligence, and rationality, while feminine characters are usually seen as irrational. In “ The Big Sleep” there are only four major female characters, Carmen Sternwood, Vivian Sternwood, Agnes Lozelle, and Mona Grant. Each of these female characters portrays different and rather broad stereotypes of women. Carmen Sternwood embodies the stereotypical idea of a spoiled and sheltered woman with cruel and rude tendencies. She very much fits the “femme fatale” literary role. The femme fatale is described as “fabricated, reconstructed in, and apparently necessary to, the cultural expressions of the...century. She is a powerful and threatening figure, bearing sexuality that is perceived to be rapacious, or fatal to her male partners...she can be a prostitute, man-hunting aristocrat, vampire, African queen, native (black) woman or murderess. She crosses boundaries of