Chandler's development of the theme danger

The extract I've decided to choose for this particular task has a range of different forms of danger. These forms of danger are presented to us, as readers to make us react to certain scenarios differently. In this extract; Marlowe is with Bill Chess, an isolated man, both physically and mentally. Marlowe only meets Bill Chess a few pages prior to this scene in which Marlowe and Bill Chess witness the disturbing appearance of a body emerge from out of the water. From pages 50-53 ( The end of the chapter) there isn't much dialogue between the two characters as Chandler's focusing predominately on the environment they're in, and uses this to create a vivid image inside the reader's head which helps in the development of the sense of danger throughout this scene.

Towards the ending of page 50 and the beginning of page 51, Marlowe enters into a deep thought whilst looking at the lake. There's a lexical field of 'peace' and the short paragraph in which Marlowe describes the atmosphere, he makes every detail seem sensitive and fragile: "It lay in the water almost without motion..." and "The air was peaceful and calm". He contrasts this with an environment he's more used to, the city. "a quiet you don't get in cities" this informs us of his lack of experience in these environments, the isolated cabin in the woods. The isolation of the cabin could reflect the current feelings Marlowe's experiencing as he makes himself seem 'new' to the surroundings, his thoughts are isolated due to his uncertainty of where he is.

However, Marlowe's brought out of this deep thought as Bill Chess' "...hard fingers dug into the flesh of my arm". Marlowe describes this action as a "hard movement" and also describes Bill's voice as "mountain thunder". The language used after Marlowe's pulled out of his thought is the complete opposite of when he