City Primeval: High Noon: A Literary Analysis

The settings portrayed in City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, a novel by Elmore Leonard, and The Maltese Falcon, a detective novel by Dashiell Hammet were closely related while occurring in two cities on complete opposite sides of the country. Both Raymond Cruz and Sam Spade are sharp, old fashioned, and gritty characters. When it comes to the descriptions of these characters and the correlation between them and their respective cities in which they reside, the authors are able to produce iconic and almost historical storylines. The way they act throughout the novels relates to the city’s historically old fashioned mannerisms. However, Raymond starts off as more of the good cop unlike Sam Spade who is more self centered and going to get it …show more content…
He works for Pinkerton Detective Agency and shows us how crime is solved in more of an old western way. The way that focus’s primarily about figuring out the crime… if it is worth figuring out. Spade acts with brute force and a lawless mind set, this provides the reassurance of the rouge mannerisms we see in his style of justice. Personal gain when conducting these investigations are a large part of why he conducts himself the way he does; for example, the scenario when Brigid O’Shaughnessy comes to Sam looking for a rare falcon. The only reason he hasn’t laughed in her face was because of her looks and willingness to reach into her pockets and pay him to help her. Here, Sam allows us to understand the way his mind works. The way of things getting done with Spade accurately exposes the ruthless period in time that is occurring in San …show more content…
Still, Raymond has been given what he feels is a no right way out scenario, justice needs to be served and he believes that he must got to drastic measures to assure that Mansell gets what is coming. The only reason that Cruz is going against the norm of the law is because the history that Mansell brings to the table. He is a convicted killer; however, he has already made it through the court system with his smooth talking lawyer. Now, Cruz is being forced to serve justice one way or the other. The backdrop of the story that is Detroit provides us with a terrifyingly violent metropolis full of racism, sexual violence, corrupt government, abuse of power, and senseless murder. This display of winning at all costs as long as it is morally right, aligns directly with the city of Detroit in this story. People that are getting off with terrible crimes are going through the courts and are then aloud to go right back on the