The Common Man The galvanizing President Abraham Lincoln once stated, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power”. Benjamin Black’s novel, The Black Eyed Blonde, presents various characters pursuing, fighting, and demanding power in different facets of their lives. The protagonist, Philip Marlowe, is a private detective who takes on the case of a mysterious and wealthy femme fatale. While Marlowe ventures curiously into the mystery of the allegedly missing lover, he finds a plot much more convoluted and distant. Being led by the femme fatale he risks his life, job and sanity for a scratch at having her. Marlowe is a stereotypical shallow male character that seeks power and love, which unfolds
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In the novel, the power struggles between good and evil materializes as Marlowe converses with Hendricks. The struggle begins with the fierce introduction to Jimmy, threatening, ”’Just get in the car, wilya?’ He opened his right hand flap of his jacket and let me see something black and shiny tucked snugly into a shoulder holster, I [Marlowe] strolled over to the car” (151). Hendricks proves that force can be practiced, the tactic of fear that eases into a friendly conversation is a known gangster movie cliche. Showing how the rich and evil try to satisfy the moral code that holds the honor of the common men. The metaphoric struggle subsequently accumulates into attempting to grasp control of the toxic conversation the two hold. As Marlowe strives to play Hendricks, Marlowe shares, “I still had that cigarette I lit it. Hendricks frowned I blew some smoke in his direction, as if by accident” (158). Hendricks’s slight agitation is the effect that Marlowe is seeking which inclines himself to be above Hendricks in this conversation. Strong ethics and morals cannot be bought, Marlowe being the strong minded man for the only time in the novel, didn’t compromise to Hendricks’s power. The rich and evil condemn the concept of purchasing people, but not everyone can be bought to their discouragement. Marlowe, being the honest man, is not bothered by wealth, power or threats because the real motive of …show more content…
The essence guides a journey through the many cliches and metaphors that the plot unveils in the true yet confusing detective story. The classic femme fatale set a dangerous and unfamiliar case to Marlowe who risks his life because of the slight memory of the endless flirtation, thus his love blindness turns him into a slave. Yet Marlowe sets ground when it comes to fighting the evil but does not prevent a friendly fight with his acquaintances at the police department. Therefore, it is hard to describe Marlowe as anything other than a simple teenager who is chasing love, standing up to the evil bully of society and fighting his friends. Is Marlowe the truly “sophisticated detective” or just another cop that wants to play with a pipe and not be bound to his superiors at the
In the novel, the power struggles between good and evil materializes as Marlowe converses with Hendricks. The struggle begins with the fierce introduction to Jimmy, threatening, ”’Just get in the car, wilya?’ He opened his right hand flap of his jacket and let me see something black and shiny tucked snugly into a shoulder holster, I [Marlowe] strolled over to the car” (151). Hendricks proves that force can be practiced, the tactic of fear that eases into a friendly conversation is a known gangster movie cliche. Showing how the rich and evil try to satisfy the moral code that holds the honor of the common men. The metaphoric struggle subsequently accumulates into attempting to grasp control of the toxic conversation the two hold. As Marlowe strives to play Hendricks, Marlowe shares, “I still had that cigarette I lit it. Hendricks frowned I blew some smoke in his direction, as if by accident” (158). Hendricks’s slight agitation is the effect that Marlowe is seeking which inclines himself to be above Hendricks in this conversation. Strong ethics and morals cannot be bought, Marlowe being the strong minded man for the only time in the novel, didn’t compromise to Hendricks’s power. The rich and evil condemn the concept of purchasing people, but not everyone can be bought to their discouragement. Marlowe, being the honest man, is not bothered by wealth, power or threats because the real motive of …show more content…
The essence guides a journey through the many cliches and metaphors that the plot unveils in the true yet confusing detective story. The classic femme fatale set a dangerous and unfamiliar case to Marlowe who risks his life because of the slight memory of the endless flirtation, thus his love blindness turns him into a slave. Yet Marlowe sets ground when it comes to fighting the evil but does not prevent a friendly fight with his acquaintances at the police department. Therefore, it is hard to describe Marlowe as anything other than a simple teenager who is chasing love, standing up to the evil bully of society and fighting his friends. Is Marlowe the truly “sophisticated detective” or just another cop that wants to play with a pipe and not be bound to his superiors at the