The Big Sleep, a look at Marlow

Is Marlow a modern man? No. To be modern is to be of your moment. Marlow’s Los Angeles is a corrupt city full of gambling and illegal rackets. Marlow does not fit in to this city. Although he is not a completely law abiding citizen, he is not morally corrupt or at least not nearly as much as his current surroundings. Marlow’s persona consists of cleaver thinking and deductive reasoning that keep him busy. Perhaps this is why he has not been caught up in the corruption of his environment. However, there are a couple very modern things about Marlow. The things that are modern about his character are not just in sync with his surroundings of Los Angeles, but in sync with the era. I am talking about his addiction to cigarettes and alcohol. The extent to which Marlow smokes and drinks can definitely be linked to the era he lives in. This is the only thing that I really did not like about Marlow and in result Chandler. The amount of time that Chandler spends on the description of Marlow’s bad habits is insignificant to the story line. If something this destructive and damaging has nothing really important to do with the plot it is annoying and a waste of time to read. Now, if the type of cigarette Marlow smoked was special and it tied him to a place and time of an event that would not have been so pointless. I guess it is just a personal opinion though, because I just hate when popular culture of a time promote and encourage such destructive habits.