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The Protagonist In The Big Sleep

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The protagonist in The Big Sleep is Philip Marlowe, the private detective. We know he’s the private detective from the dialogue in the beginging of the movie between him and Carmen. She says “What are you? A prize fighter, which Marloew replies “No, I’m a shamus. To further verify this Carmen asks what a shamus is and he explains that it’s a private detective.

It’s unclear who the real antagonist is in this movie because of all the crimes committed, but the main one would probably be Eddie Mars because he is the beginning of the chain of crimes and he is there by choice. All the crimes that come after are a result of his. It’s taking down Eddie that becomes Marlowe’s main focus. There isn’t a narrator in the movie, it’s told through third …show more content…
Part of this is because it’s from the point of view of the investigator so we are able to get to know and understand them better, which reflects the tone of the films. In classic era stories we don’t know much about the detective. In hard-boiled we get to see more of their personality.

In the classic era we don’t know much about the detectives love life while in The Big Sleep we see Marlowe flirt continuously. An example of this is when he playfully replied to Carmen after she said he was cute. He replied, “I'm getting cuter every minute.” We also get to see his flirtatious personality as the plot line develops and his and Vivian’s romance begins to form. Throughout the film, even in the romantic parts there is sarcasm and the cynical plotline, which is why these are key characteristics for the tone of the film.

In The Simple Art of Murder, Raymond Chandler describes a hard-boiled detective as many things. I think that Marlowe fits Chandler’s description perfectly. Some things from Chandler’s list that I think best suit Marlowe are that he is a hero, has a sense of character, and would seduce a women, but still be a man of …show more content…
That he can seduce a woman and that he is a man of honour. He proves he is a man of honour through many of his actions like protecting Vivian, and not giving into Carmen’s constant pursuits. Throughout the film Vivian and Marlowe have a budding romance. The film ends with her saying “You’ve forgotten one thing –me,” which Marlowe replies “What’s wrong with you?” and she says “Nothing you can’t fix.” Showing not only the romance and that he is able to seduce a girl, but also that she looks at him as a hero who can fix

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