Private Investigations and Family Affairs: A Rereading of the Crime Novels Starring Philip Marlowe

Abstract

In regular readings of the hard-boiled fictions, the main interpretations tend to emphasize a number of elements; without being exhaustive: power, violence, corruption, money, “real” crimes, stereotyped gender roles, sexism, individuality and the representation of marginal subjectivities. However, when (re) reading the foundational texts of the hard-boiled fiction written by one of its founders, Raymond Chandler, I also find representations of the family: there are conjugal, paternal, maternal, fraternal and sisterly tensions that, in most novels, involve substantive aspects for the development of their plots. Even the detective’s own figure, usually designated as a lonely individual, shows a certain porosity. The objective of my work, therefore, is to describe and analyze these types of configurations in the seven complete novels starring Marlowe: The Big Sleep (1939), Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The High Window (1942), The Lady in the Lake (1943), The Little Sister (1949), The Long Goodbye (1953) and Playback (1958). On the conclusions, I highlight the omnipresence of this dimension throughout the entire series of novels (regardless of whether or not it is a necessary element for the genre).