The Long Goodbye
Hein Aung
Amy Katherine Cannon
Writing 39B
17 Nov. 2014 The Long Goodbye: The Social Impacts of the Novel “The image of Los Angeles by the 1950s was, in contrast, that of the wasteland: in the cold, hard city one was overwhelmed by emptiness, desolation, and despair,” as quoted in the article The Dark Side of the Dream by Tina Olsin Lent, overpopulation and industrialization were the major factors that led to gradual deterioration of the city of Los Angeles. Urbanization, invoked by the booming economy and glamour of the city, resulted in slums and overcrowded environments and industrialization polluted the city ; industrialization polluted the city. Soon, The Great Depression hit and the city was overwhelmed with injustice, poverty, and crimes. Nevertheless, amidst such a gloomy and dark city, emerged a popular hard-boiled detective fiction, The Long Goodbye, that served readers as an outlet from dark realities. In the novel The Long Goodbye, Chandler uses the tropes of corruption and femme fatale to demonstrate the social impacts they have had on the dark and pessimistic postwar era of the 1940s.
Despite the disheartening historical context of The Long Goodbye, Raymond chandler uses Heroism the motif of heroism to contrast the prevailing darkness that The Great Depression and World War II had encroached on the city of Los Angeles. The juxtaposition of Heroism and Darkness in the novel enthralled the readers of the postwar era and provided them a gleam of hope for the city’s recovery. According to Telotte in Voices in the Dark, “ the film noir seems fundamentally about violations: vice, corruption, unrestrained desire, and, most fundamental of all, abrogation of the American dream’s most basic promises—of hope, prosperity, and safety from persecution.” (Telotte 2). Although Telotte makes claims only about the film noir in this quote, her claims can also be applied to other forms of literature that belong to the same genre, Noir. The hard-boiled
Amy Katherine Cannon
Writing 39B
17 Nov. 2014 The Long Goodbye: The Social Impacts of the Novel “The image of Los Angeles by the 1950s was, in contrast, that of the wasteland: in the cold, hard city one was overwhelmed by emptiness, desolation, and despair,” as quoted in the article The Dark Side of the Dream by Tina Olsin Lent, overpopulation and industrialization were the major factors that led to gradual deterioration of the city of Los Angeles. Urbanization, invoked by the booming economy and glamour of the city, resulted in slums and overcrowded environments and industrialization polluted the city ; industrialization polluted the city. Soon, The Great Depression hit and the city was overwhelmed with injustice, poverty, and crimes. Nevertheless, amidst such a gloomy and dark city, emerged a popular hard-boiled detective fiction, The Long Goodbye, that served readers as an outlet from dark realities. In the novel The Long Goodbye, Chandler uses the tropes of corruption and femme fatale to demonstrate the social impacts they have had on the dark and pessimistic postwar era of the 1940s.
Despite the disheartening historical context of The Long Goodbye, Raymond chandler uses Heroism the motif of heroism to contrast the prevailing darkness that The Great Depression and World War II had encroached on the city of Los Angeles. The juxtaposition of Heroism and Darkness in the novel enthralled the readers of the postwar era and provided them a gleam of hope for the city’s recovery. According to Telotte in Voices in the Dark, “ the film noir seems fundamentally about violations: vice, corruption, unrestrained desire, and, most fundamental of all, abrogation of the American dream’s most basic promises—of hope, prosperity, and safety from persecution.” (Telotte 2). Although Telotte makes claims only about the film noir in this quote, her claims can also be applied to other forms of literature that belong to the same genre, Noir. The hard-boiled
Bibliography: Danyte, Milda. Introduction to the Analysis of Crime Fiction. Recenzent KristinaAurylait (VDU). 2010. Print. This book talks about femme fatale in film noir and it can be used to prove the existence of the trope femme fatale in The Long Goodbye. For instance, Milda Danyte gives a very concise definition of femme fatale in the book. By quoting her statement, I was able to demonstrate the presence of a femme fatale and its significance in The Long Goodbye. Moreover, although the book is an overall analysis of Crime Fiction, there are certain parts that assisted me on my analysis on the trope of femme fatale. Coit, Christine. Philip Marlowe: American Detective. An Undergraduate Research Journal. 2003. Print The article offers precise analysis about the character Philip Marlowe. It touches on several topics such as the development of Marlowe in the genre Noir, heroism and Marlowe’s interaction with women. In order to demonstrate the characteristics of Philip Marlowe, the article also provides detailed comparison between Philip Marlowe and other heroic characters in history. Furthermore, it discusses about how the creation of Philip Marlowe leaves a great impact on the American society. Blaser, John J. Film Noir’s Progressive Portrayal of Women. John J. Blaser and Stephanie L.M. Blaser. 2008. Web. The article contains several ideas that can be used to enhance my argument in the project; it discusses about the development of femme fatale in the postwar era and its impacts on the society. The claims made in this article are also backed up with great reasoning and hence gives you deeper understanding of the genre. Furthermore, the article offers several examples of femme fatale in film noir. Therefore, it gives you a better insight about the trope and its relation to the genre Noir. Telotte, J.P. Voices in the Dark: The Narrative Patters of L.A. Noir. Illinois: Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 1989. Print. This article has several compelling quotes about the prevalence of corruption in the postwar era. Using the quotes from this article I can support my argument about violence, darkness and vices in the genre Noir and demonstrates the existence of societal flaws in The Long Goodbye. It also discusses about the destruction of American dream of the postwar era. This source is reliable in my analysis of LA Noir because it provides a concise description of the corrupt and dark postwar society. Olsin Lent, Tina. “The Dark Side of the Dream: The Image of Los Angeles In Film Noir.” Southern California Quarterly, Vol 69, No 4, A Centennial Salute to Hollywood, 1887- 1987 (WINTER 1987), Pp 329-348. Web. The Dark Side of the Dream gives a great description of the city of Los Angeles in the 1900s. It compares and contrasts the 1920s Los Angeles to the 1950s Los Angeles; the article praises the beauty of the cities in the 1920s and denounces the darkness overwhelming the cities in the postwar era. This article is a terrific source because it discusses about corruption and relates it to the deterioration of the postwar Los Angeles. Therefore, it can be used to support my claims in demonstrating corruption as a source to destruction of the postwar Los Angeles.