preview

Themes Of Conflicts In The Maltese Falcon

Decent Essays

Dashiell Hammett who worked for a detective agency, wrote the novel The Maltese Falcon in 1929. In this novel the protagonist is a fictional character that Hammett created and named Sam Spade. Sam is a private detective hired by another character in the novel named Brigid O' Shaughnessy. Being a detective comes with many job responsibilities and being a private detective becomes even more complicated. In Hammett's novel there are many conflicts throughout his writing. Most conflicts have to do with Spade in some form considering he is the detective and also the protagonist. Are the conflicts in the story relating to Spade within himself; man versus self, or caused by another character; man versus man? When it comes to conflicts in literature there are two main types; internal and external. There are multiple different types of conflicts that can appear in literature, usually all stories or novels have at least one conflict. What is a story without a conflict? An internal conflict is a conflict that …show more content…

This has to do with the conflict between two characters in a writing. Man versus. man has to do with the differences in morals, beliefs, or ethics between the two characters. It can also have to do with an emotional or physical encounter. Man versus nature is when a conflict is created between the character and nature its self. Lastly when an issue with a character and their government or society comes up in literature that is called man versus society. Within the story The Maltese Falcon Sam Spade deals with multiple conflicts throughout Hammett's writing. Although some conflicts in the story are due to external factors, Sam Spades conflicts are internal conflicts. This means Spades conflicts are man versus self. Sam Spade faces conflicts with other characters but the reason for these conflicts and how Sam Spade handles the conflicts, are due to internal factors like his morals, beliefs, values, and

Get Access