Biographical Context
- Raymond chandler was a writer during the 1900's, he was born on July 23 1888 and died on March 26 1959.
- He decided to become a writter during the Great Depression in 1929 but later lost his job in 1932.
- Raymond Chandler's dad worked as a civil engineer but was an alcoholic who abandonned him as a child, so his childhood was an extremely traumatic experience.
- His parents later divorced in 1895 and Raymond's father remarried to an older woman. These personal events therefore contribute to Chandlers's attitude towards life as these experiences have influenced him greatly, hence affecting his writing style and the type of characters in his story.
- Raymond did some freelance work in 1908 then he decided to move to the states in 1912 to which he joined the Canadian expedition force during world war 1 and later joining the R.A.F.
- He decided to become a writter during the Great Depression in 1929 but later lost his job in 1932.
- Raymond Chandler's dad worked as a civil engineer but was an alcoholic who abandonned him as a child, so his childhood was an extremely traumatic experience.
- His parents later divorced in 1895 and Raymond's father remarried to an older woman. These personal events therefore contribute to Chandlers's attitude towards life as these experiences have influenced him greatly, hence affecting his writing style and the type of characters in his story.
- Raymond did some freelance work in 1908 then he decided to move to the states in 1912 to which he joined the Canadian expedition force during world war 1 and later joining the R.A.F.
Geographical context
- Raymond chandler set the Big Sleep in the streets of LA where life at the time was rough and full of cynical people who all have the same idea of achieving the 'american dream'.
- LA was full of your typical gangsters and promiscious women which is reflected through his characters and the type of language that is used by them.
- LA was full of your typical gangsters and promiscious women which is reflected through his characters and the type of language that is used by them.
Historical Context
- The Big Sleep was published in 1939 during the Great Depression which was the worst economic crisis to date in the USA which left people jobless and unable to feed their famillies.
- The book was also published just before world war 2, which is reflected in the book through the cynicism of the 1930's in LA.
- During the time there was also the California oil boom in the 1920's to which he critisizes the corruption of the industry in thee book as he worked in the oil industry for a while before publishing his book.
- The book was also published just before world war 2, which is reflected in the book through the cynicism of the 1930's in LA.
- During the time there was also the California oil boom in the 1920's to which he critisizes the corruption of the industry in thee book as he worked in the oil industry for a while before publishing his book.
Literary Context
- During the 1930's there was a theme of cynicism and everyone wanting freedom from the economical crisis at the time which was conveyed through the literature written.
- Examples such as ' Film noir' and muder mysteries such as 'Agatha Christie - murder is easy (1939)'
Characters
- Phillip Marlowe (Detective)
- Taggart Wilde + Bernie Ohls (Marlowe worked for them)
- General Sternwood
- Carmen Sternwood + Vivian Regan Sternwood (General's daughters)
- Terrance Rusty Regan ( Vivian's husband)
- Arthur Gwynn Geiger + Joe Brody ( blackmailing the general)
- Norris (The butler)
- Examples such as ' Film noir' and muder mysteries such as 'Agatha Christie - murder is easy (1939)'
Characters
- Phillip Marlowe (Detective)
- Taggart Wilde + Bernie Ohls (Marlowe worked for them)
- General Sternwood
- Carmen Sternwood + Vivian Regan Sternwood (General's daughters)
- Terrance Rusty Regan ( Vivian's husband)
- Arthur Gwynn Geiger + Joe Brody ( blackmailing the general)
- Norris (The butler)
Philip Marlowe's Dialect
MaPhilip Marlowe is a very distinctive character who has had a rough journey through life which is conveyed to the reader through his dialect.Through his conversation we can see that he talks with confidence and a great level of intelligence, being a detective he has a suitable and professional answer to almost everything. We can also conclude that his way of talking is extremely witty and sarcastic to which is quite humorous to the reader as it shows the contrast of his more intellectual way of thinking as compared to other characters such as Vivian Regan Sternwood. Due to him being quite witty it is a technique which allows him to give short answers which don't give away much to other characters, in turn making them frustrated and giving him more information
than they intended to.
Many things can affect someone's idiolect and in Marlowe's case there are many things which have had a great significance in contributing to the way he speaks and his overall behavior. The first thing is to where he has come
from (geographic aspect), which is Los Angeles and at the time when the book was set the LA scene was full of gangsters and slang which affects his idiolect as you would pick up these terms and use them in natural speech. There is also what events are going on where you live (historical context), and in Marlowe's case
he is stuck in the period of the great depression which will affect his character and idiolect as it brings a lot of cynicism out which is the wittiness and sarcasm. His background and personal experiences also adds to his idiolect
as he hasn’t been brought up with much education as he says he's 'only been to college once and can still speak English if there's any demand for it.' Therefore his dialect has been formed mainly from where he's been around, also his job being a detective is a huge part of his idiolect as his language and manner of speaking is very confident, thought out and decisive which is influenced by his line of work.
Through his dialect we can see that he is quite observant and quick to analyse his surroundings, being very descriptive. For example when he first describes what he is wearing when he comes to meet General Sternwood, ' I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark blue clocks on them.' Straight away it shows he is very detailed but then he adds 'I was neat, clean, shaved, and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be.' This tells us he takes pride in his appearance but that he also doesn't put this much effort in as he is talking about himself being what a private detective should be which implies he has made an effort for this one occasion.
Another example of Marlowe's observation is when he enters General Sternwood's mansion and is staring at a stain glass window of a knight trying to save a naked woman when he says, 'if I lived in the house, I would sooner or later have to climb up there and help him.' This tells us that that Marlowe will commit himself completely to the tasks placed before him and that he does his task not for the meager pay, but because it is what he
feels he must do.
When Marlowe first speaks to the General he tells him that 'I was fired. For insubordination. I test very high on insubordination, General.' This shows us that Marlowe is very honest and upfront about things and that he also
is very confident and sticks to his own gut and morals which is why he was fired from his previous job. It can also be said that his attitude towards situations causing bad consequences have made him stronger by facing them which allows him to move forward creating a more hard exterior. When speaking to the general he had also conveyed a bit of cynicism when he says 'I'm unmarried because I don't like policemen's wives,' which shows that he has generalised all policemen's wives to be the same showing his cynic attitude
towards some things such as women.
So overall from we can say that Philip Marlowe is very confident, observant, witty and intelligent from which can be gathered from his idiolect and examples of conversations with other characters. We can also say that by gathering together all of Marlowe's background, history, job and personal experiences, we can conclude that it has all affected his idiolect and has contributed to transforming him into the character he is now.
Synopsis
Chapter 1-3
Marlowe goes to the Sternwood's house and he comes across carmen Sternwood to which he realises what a flirt she is. He then goes into the green house to meet general Sternwood when he explains what he want marlowe to do for him and that he is being blackmailed. After marlowe leave the greenhouse he comes across vivian sternwood who is curious as to why her father has called a private detective. She thinks that is to find her strayed husband rusty regan.
Chapter 4-6
Marlowe visits one of Geigers so called book shops and asks the woman about a book and some questions to which she cannot answer. He realises something is up so he waits in the shop for Geiger to return to when a customer comes in and the women secretly hands him a package. Marlowe leaves and follows the man till he drops the package to which marlowe picks up. He find that it is a book but of pornography, he isnt surprised. He finds Geigers number in a call box and rings it but no answer so he decides to check out bookstores round the area and he finds that the woman in the bookshop actually knew what she was talking about. He managed to get a full description of Geiger and proceeded to his house to where he hears a shot, screams and man leaving the house and finds Geiger dead on the floor with none other than Carmen Sternwood sat there naked.
Chapters 7-9
Marlowe describes the inside of Geigers house, it is ornate and decorated with silks and cushions, with oriental décor and furniture, odd smells abound, including the scent of ether in the air. Carmen is clearly drugged and is completely unaware of the fact that Geiger is lying dead on the floor. Geiger begins to piece together the events of that night when he comes across a hidden camera in a totem pole pointing towards Carmen to which he concludes made her scream as the flash shocked her. He tries to look for the plateholder but to no suprise its been taken, as he searches the house he finds a blue leather book wich appears to contain some type of coding. He takes the book, dresses Carmen and drives her home. When Marlowe reaches the Sternwood mansion he asks for Mrs Regan who we find out isn't in so Norris the butler tells one of the maids to take care of Carmen, Norris then offers to call a cab but Marlowe doesn't want anywne to know where he was. He decides to walk back to Geigers house and to his surprise he finds the body is missing. As Marlowe searches the house he comes to the realisation that the persn wanted it to look like Geiger is missing nr murdered and that someone else has hidden the body because the murderer fleed the scene in a hurry. Marlowe thinks about how he can keep Carmen off the record of what happend that night, he then takes the book he found home and attempts to crack the code which looks like a list of customers.
Chapters 10-12
Marlowe goes back to Geigers bookstore and tells the blonde woman at the front that his last visit was nonsense and that he is in the business too and wishes to see Gieger and she insists that Geiger is out of town. Marlowe then sees men at the back moving the merchandise elsewhere so he leaves the shop and follows them to some apartments to where he discovers they are being sent to Joe Brody. Marlowe sees Vivian who claims she is being blackmailed for 5000$ as someone sent her the maked pictures of Carmen and she claims knows what happend to Owen Taylor. Marlowe finds that everyone in the Sternwood house was at home on the night of Gieger's death except Vivian who was down at the Cypress club gambling. Marlowe then goes back to Giegers house to find Carmen sitting there, he asks her about last night and who killed Gieger. She wouldn't answer till Marlowe mentioned Brody to which she reacts harshly saying yes he did it. She then tells Marlowe that she knows hes a private detective, Marlowe then says to her that the photos she came back to get are gone. Somebody pulls up to the house and enters to see both of them.
Chapters 13-15
The guy who entered Giegers house was Eddie Mars. Marlowe tries to talk himself out of the situation, saying that he and Carmen are business acquaintances who stopped by Geiger's to pick up a book. Mars does not believe Marlowe. He allows Carmen to leave, but tells Marlowe he would like to talk to him a little bit longer. Mars then adds that he has two of his men outside, who would be willing to do whatever he asks them to do with Marlowe. Mars notices the blood on the floor and Marlowe acts as if hes never seen it before as he threatened to bring in the law. Marlowe explains hes a sleuth and that Carmen was involved in blackmail and so he came down to sort it out and the door was open. We find out that Mars owns Geigers house so has a key. Mars seems to want to know what has happend to Gieger as he hasn't been in the store, Marlowe comes back with the point that Eddie Mars is probably offering Gieger protection in the pornography business. This irritates Mars so he calls in his "boys" who search Marlowe and find out hes a detective, in the end he is released and goes back to Hollywood. Marlowe goes to Brody's house and tells him he knows he has Carmen's pictures and that him and Agnes blackmailed Vivian. Brody under pressure explains how he wasn't involved in Gieger's murder and that he broke up with Carmen for being to crazy so she now hates him. Marlowe convinces Brody to give him the pictures and suddenly the doorbell rings. Carmen turns up demanding her pictures as she claims Brody killed Gieger (untrue). There is a fight and it ends out with Brody handing the pictures to Carmen and them leaving.
Chapters 16-18
Marlowe goes back to Brody's after getting rid of Carmen. He asks Brody how he got hold of the pictures and he wants Carmen out of the situation to which Brody asks money for the information and his secrecy. Brody continues that he was watching Gieger's house the night he was killed as he wanted to get into the "book racket" and he saw Vivians car outside. He heard gun shots and sees Owen rushing off to whom he follows and stops pretending to be a cop. He hits him over the head and takes the plateholder out of the camera, to which he discovers is photos of Carmen and that Gieger was the one who was shot so he decides to move onto his business. The doorbell rings and Brody is shot. Marlowe chases the gunman and finds it is Carol Lundgren who shot Brody thinking he killed Gieger as he is lover. He takes Carol to Giegers house and tells him to open the door as he's sure he has a key, Carol refuses and it turns into a fist fight. Marlowe ties Carol up and drags him into the house to which he finds Gieger in a room at the foot of the bed surrounded in candles and silk draped across him as a cross. Marlowe phones Ohls and tells him that Taylor should have a gun on him containing three empty shells and that he should come to Giegers' house if he want to know how Marlowe knows this information. Ohls goes to the house, and they all go to Taggart Wilde, District Attorne
than they intended to.
Many things can affect someone's idiolect and in Marlowe's case there are many things which have had a great significance in contributing to the way he speaks and his overall behavior. The first thing is to where he has come
from (geographic aspect), which is Los Angeles and at the time when the book was set the LA scene was full of gangsters and slang which affects his idiolect as you would pick up these terms and use them in natural speech. There is also what events are going on where you live (historical context), and in Marlowe's case
he is stuck in the period of the great depression which will affect his character and idiolect as it brings a lot of cynicism out which is the wittiness and sarcasm. His background and personal experiences also adds to his idiolect
as he hasn’t been brought up with much education as he says he's 'only been to college once and can still speak English if there's any demand for it.' Therefore his dialect has been formed mainly from where he's been around, also his job being a detective is a huge part of his idiolect as his language and manner of speaking is very confident, thought out and decisive which is influenced by his line of work.
Through his dialect we can see that he is quite observant and quick to analyse his surroundings, being very descriptive. For example when he first describes what he is wearing when he comes to meet General Sternwood, ' I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark blue clocks on them.' Straight away it shows he is very detailed but then he adds 'I was neat, clean, shaved, and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be.' This tells us he takes pride in his appearance but that he also doesn't put this much effort in as he is talking about himself being what a private detective should be which implies he has made an effort for this one occasion.
Another example of Marlowe's observation is when he enters General Sternwood's mansion and is staring at a stain glass window of a knight trying to save a naked woman when he says, 'if I lived in the house, I would sooner or later have to climb up there and help him.' This tells us that that Marlowe will commit himself completely to the tasks placed before him and that he does his task not for the meager pay, but because it is what he
feels he must do.
When Marlowe first speaks to the General he tells him that 'I was fired. For insubordination. I test very high on insubordination, General.' This shows us that Marlowe is very honest and upfront about things and that he also
is very confident and sticks to his own gut and morals which is why he was fired from his previous job. It can also be said that his attitude towards situations causing bad consequences have made him stronger by facing them which allows him to move forward creating a more hard exterior. When speaking to the general he had also conveyed a bit of cynicism when he says 'I'm unmarried because I don't like policemen's wives,' which shows that he has generalised all policemen's wives to be the same showing his cynic attitude
towards some things such as women.
So overall from we can say that Philip Marlowe is very confident, observant, witty and intelligent from which can be gathered from his idiolect and examples of conversations with other characters. We can also say that by gathering together all of Marlowe's background, history, job and personal experiences, we can conclude that it has all affected his idiolect and has contributed to transforming him into the character he is now.
Synopsis
Chapter 1-3
Marlowe goes to the Sternwood's house and he comes across carmen Sternwood to which he realises what a flirt she is. He then goes into the green house to meet general Sternwood when he explains what he want marlowe to do for him and that he is being blackmailed. After marlowe leave the greenhouse he comes across vivian sternwood who is curious as to why her father has called a private detective. She thinks that is to find her strayed husband rusty regan.
Chapter 4-6
Marlowe visits one of Geigers so called book shops and asks the woman about a book and some questions to which she cannot answer. He realises something is up so he waits in the shop for Geiger to return to when a customer comes in and the women secretly hands him a package. Marlowe leaves and follows the man till he drops the package to which marlowe picks up. He find that it is a book but of pornography, he isnt surprised. He finds Geigers number in a call box and rings it but no answer so he decides to check out bookstores round the area and he finds that the woman in the bookshop actually knew what she was talking about. He managed to get a full description of Geiger and proceeded to his house to where he hears a shot, screams and man leaving the house and finds Geiger dead on the floor with none other than Carmen Sternwood sat there naked.
Chapters 7-9
Marlowe describes the inside of Geigers house, it is ornate and decorated with silks and cushions, with oriental décor and furniture, odd smells abound, including the scent of ether in the air. Carmen is clearly drugged and is completely unaware of the fact that Geiger is lying dead on the floor. Geiger begins to piece together the events of that night when he comes across a hidden camera in a totem pole pointing towards Carmen to which he concludes made her scream as the flash shocked her. He tries to look for the plateholder but to no suprise its been taken, as he searches the house he finds a blue leather book wich appears to contain some type of coding. He takes the book, dresses Carmen and drives her home. When Marlowe reaches the Sternwood mansion he asks for Mrs Regan who we find out isn't in so Norris the butler tells one of the maids to take care of Carmen, Norris then offers to call a cab but Marlowe doesn't want anywne to know where he was. He decides to walk back to Geigers house and to his surprise he finds the body is missing. As Marlowe searches the house he comes to the realisation that the persn wanted it to look like Geiger is missing nr murdered and that someone else has hidden the body because the murderer fleed the scene in a hurry. Marlowe thinks about how he can keep Carmen off the record of what happend that night, he then takes the book he found home and attempts to crack the code which looks like a list of customers.
Chapters 10-12
Marlowe goes back to Geigers bookstore and tells the blonde woman at the front that his last visit was nonsense and that he is in the business too and wishes to see Gieger and she insists that Geiger is out of town. Marlowe then sees men at the back moving the merchandise elsewhere so he leaves the shop and follows them to some apartments to where he discovers they are being sent to Joe Brody. Marlowe sees Vivian who claims she is being blackmailed for 5000$ as someone sent her the maked pictures of Carmen and she claims knows what happend to Owen Taylor. Marlowe finds that everyone in the Sternwood house was at home on the night of Gieger's death except Vivian who was down at the Cypress club gambling. Marlowe then goes back to Giegers house to find Carmen sitting there, he asks her about last night and who killed Gieger. She wouldn't answer till Marlowe mentioned Brody to which she reacts harshly saying yes he did it. She then tells Marlowe that she knows hes a private detective, Marlowe then says to her that the photos she came back to get are gone. Somebody pulls up to the house and enters to see both of them.
Chapters 13-15
The guy who entered Giegers house was Eddie Mars. Marlowe tries to talk himself out of the situation, saying that he and Carmen are business acquaintances who stopped by Geiger's to pick up a book. Mars does not believe Marlowe. He allows Carmen to leave, but tells Marlowe he would like to talk to him a little bit longer. Mars then adds that he has two of his men outside, who would be willing to do whatever he asks them to do with Marlowe. Mars notices the blood on the floor and Marlowe acts as if hes never seen it before as he threatened to bring in the law. Marlowe explains hes a sleuth and that Carmen was involved in blackmail and so he came down to sort it out and the door was open. We find out that Mars owns Geigers house so has a key. Mars seems to want to know what has happend to Gieger as he hasn't been in the store, Marlowe comes back with the point that Eddie Mars is probably offering Gieger protection in the pornography business. This irritates Mars so he calls in his "boys" who search Marlowe and find out hes a detective, in the end he is released and goes back to Hollywood. Marlowe goes to Brody's house and tells him he knows he has Carmen's pictures and that him and Agnes blackmailed Vivian. Brody under pressure explains how he wasn't involved in Gieger's murder and that he broke up with Carmen for being to crazy so she now hates him. Marlowe convinces Brody to give him the pictures and suddenly the doorbell rings. Carmen turns up demanding her pictures as she claims Brody killed Gieger (untrue). There is a fight and it ends out with Brody handing the pictures to Carmen and them leaving.
Chapters 16-18
Marlowe goes back to Brody's after getting rid of Carmen. He asks Brody how he got hold of the pictures and he wants Carmen out of the situation to which Brody asks money for the information and his secrecy. Brody continues that he was watching Gieger's house the night he was killed as he wanted to get into the "book racket" and he saw Vivians car outside. He heard gun shots and sees Owen rushing off to whom he follows and stops pretending to be a cop. He hits him over the head and takes the plateholder out of the camera, to which he discovers is photos of Carmen and that Gieger was the one who was shot so he decides to move onto his business. The doorbell rings and Brody is shot. Marlowe chases the gunman and finds it is Carol Lundgren who shot Brody thinking he killed Gieger as he is lover. He takes Carol to Giegers house and tells him to open the door as he's sure he has a key, Carol refuses and it turns into a fist fight. Marlowe ties Carol up and drags him into the house to which he finds Gieger in a room at the foot of the bed surrounded in candles and silk draped across him as a cross. Marlowe phones Ohls and tells him that Taylor should have a gun on him containing three empty shells and that he should come to Giegers' house if he want to know how Marlowe knows this information. Ohls goes to the house, and they all go to Taggart Wilde, District Attorne