Maltese Falcon :: essays research papers

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett takes place in the 1930s and has a variety of mysterious charactersincluding: Sam Spade, Brigid O'Shaughhnessy, Joel Cairo, Mr. Gutman, and Wilmer. When O'Shaughnessy comes to Spade and asks him to shadow Thursby, the story takes off ona rampage of events with seemingly no relevance until they are revealed in the end. The conflict that drives the story is the unknown location of the Maltese falcon, a golden falcon of immense value. All the actions and even emotinos fo the characters are driven by the desire to obtain the falcon ormoney from obtaining the falcon. While some characters are more moreal than others, all of them have at least one fault which makes them untrustworthy: greed, stupidity, or all three. The characters eliminate each other trhoguhout the story, either arrested or killed, until only Sapde is left unscathed. The book has three phases: definite misunderstanding, unknown misunderstanding and comprehension. In the first phase of the book, all the characters completely misunderstand each other. As the book progresses, the characters begin to believe that they have an understanding of each other, which complicates everyone's emotions. Finally, the characters comprehend the previous emotions of the other characters and truly understand the events and the emotions of everyone. Later, Spade decides to have a meeting ith O'Shbaughnessy and Cairo together. Befor ethe meeting, Spade notices a youngman shadowing him. HE temporarily forgets about it and goes to the meeting in his apartment. At the meeting Cairo and O'Shaughnesy briefly speak of a falcon, but the doorbell interrupts them. Sam goes to the door greets two police detectives that are investigating the deaths of Thursby and Archer. The officers demand entry when they hear a scream and a shout from within,. When they reach the room of the scream, they find Cairo with a bloody face, holding a gun at O'Shaughnessy. In an attempt to allay suspiciion, Spade says that it is a deliberate joke. The police leave Spade alone, but they take Cairo to the station for questioning. Eventually, the mysterious young man, Wilmer confronts Spade and takes him to an apartment. HE brings Spade into a room where Mr. Gutman is sitting. They botht ry to get information without giving information. Sam decides to arrange a meeting with Cairo, O'Shaughnessy, Gutman, and Wilmer. Before the meeting, the captain of the boat, La Paloma, arrives at Spade's office, injured but carrying what appears to be the Maltese falcon.