The Long Goodbye

Name:
Tutor’s Name:
Course:
Date:
The Long Goodbye: Characteristics of Hardboiled Detective Fiction
Dante lists nine characteristics of true crime noir fiction. A majority if not all of these features are present in the 1953 novel by Raymond Chandler. The first one is “social realism (Dante 24) rooted in the 1950s, post Second World War setting of the novel. Chandler describes with great detail the suburbs, the clubs, and streets of Vegas and Hollywood. “And the Rolls ticked down the entrance driveway onto Sunset Boulevard” (Chandler n.p.). Most of the characters live in affluent neighborhoods. The suburbia and most of the locations such as Victor’s are tailored for the rich. We can identify the social realism by the houses and places the people frequent it. The reader learns that most of the characters are affluent or in one way or another attached to the upper class. The upper-class members of the society are portrayed as individuals who use crude ways to maintain their standards.
Secondly, there is the collapse of moral and ideological values (Dante 24); in the novel, money is regarded very highly. Values such as honor and honesty are dead. Dr. Vet-ringer smiled quietly. “You think you will stop payment, Mr. Wade. But you won’t. I assure you that you won’t. “You fat crook!” Wade yelled at him.” The quoted text, a conversation between Dr. Vetringer and Wade shows the former forcing payment on Wade without caring for how Wade will procure the money. Money, therefore, has corrupted individuals in society.

The way Dr was quarreling Wade is an indicator that money is preferred over morals. There is an evident disintegration of values which in this case is empathy and patience. The society we live in currently has shifted from a market economy to market society. No one worries anymore to consider morals instead everything is up for grabs.
Thirdly, “violence is described in detail” (Dante 25). For example, at the hotel room where Wade and his wife Eileen stay, the detective describes the injury on Wade’s head “Then I looked at his head. It was smeared with blood. His hair was sticky with it. It didn’t look, but you never know with a head wound.” (Chandler n.p.) Amidst the violence and the blood, the detective maintains a calm composure, managing to use logic and experience to solve crimes and put clues together to make sense of things. It is always human nature to be violent, but the levels of violence experienced in modern generation increased due to what individuals are exposed to in media. The authority, on the other hand, has not been able to resolve violence. In some instances, the authority covers up for individuals accused of engaging in violence in society.

Works Cited
Chandler, Raymond. 1992. The long goodbye. New York: Vintage Books
Danyte, Milda. Introduction to the Analysis of Crime Fiction. A User-friendly Guide. Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas. Recenzent KristinaAuryIait (VDU). 2011. Print, https://eltalpykla.vdu.lt/bitstream/handle/1/225/ISBN9789955126980.pdf?sequence=1