Chapter Unequal and Opposite of The Big Sleep - Study Guide by Raymond Chandler

Reading). Throughout these he is a 'knight' whose mission is to protect the weak and to make sure that justice is done.

Of course, one should not attempt to psychoanalyse Marlowe too much, to read too much into him. He, for one, would hate it. For this reason the last word on the subject of who Marlowe 'is' should go to Chandler himself. In his essay, The Simple Art of Murder, Chandler's 'formula' detective is "a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man... He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world... I do not care much about his private life; he is neither a eunuch nor a satyr; I think he might seduce a duchess and I am quite sure he would not spoil a virgin; if he is a man of honor in one thing, he is that in all things... This story is this man's adventure in search for a hidden truth, and it would be no adventure if it did not happen to a man fit for an adventure. He has a range of awareness that startles you, but it belongs to him by right, because it belongs to the world he lives in."