Resumo de Comparison Of The Big Sleep And Birth Marks

Compare and contrast the author's presentation of the narrators. By Howard Sivills
In the novels The Big Sleep and Birth Marks, the authors Raymond Chandler and Sarah Dunant create very different crime novel protagonists. Both novels are written in the first person narrative style. First person writing is a complex art form; the author must create a rapport between the reader and protagonist to produce a successful piece. It seems that the construction of Birth Marks and The Big Sleep is very different. To construct a first person protagonist that can build a rapport with the reader, the author may present character through the protagonist's interaction with the narrative. Stephen King explains his method of creating a first person protagonist in the simple form of ?The I-guy, until the story actually starts coming out in words'. The plot of Birth Marks is perhaps closer to the starting point of the novels creation. The reader is made to feel involved with the narrative, therefore with Hannah Wolfe. This adds to the effect given by the fact that at times the reader is closer to solving the case than Wolfe. It is fair to say that the ?I-guy', Wolfe is a fragile and believable character within the decayed setting of the crime novel. However, Chandler seems to develop the heroic figure of the 'I-guy', as a starting point to weaving the plot. Chandler constructed The Big Sleep using the technique of ?cannibalisation', - merging a large number of short stories focussing of Phillip Marlowe, and rewriting into one flowing novel. Hence, Chandler managed to put the novel together in three months, much shorter than the years it took to write the sequel ?Farewell my lovely'. The Big Sleep was written in 1939, post prohibition California using the corrupt, rich and seedy backdrop to set the standard for the crime novel. The protagonist Phillip Marlowe is a heroic character who leads the reader through a three-day case. The reader acts as the ?forth wall', almost a sidekick to the detective, who reveals very little about himself. The reader finds out about Marlowe's physical presence through what other, mostly female characters, say about him. Firstly there is Carmen who's first line to Marlowe is ?You're tall aren't you', throwing herself quite literally at him. This is significant for multiple reasons. It suggests that Marlowe is a tall, dark and mysterious hero character that women find attractive. Of course it also says a lot about Carmen. Throughout the novel Carmen is presented as a vulnerable but vindictive character that uses her sexuality to exploit men, although it may be more true to say that men exploit her as an easy target. Just from this encounter the reader finds out a lot of information. Marlowe responds to her advances with humour that is perhaps beyond her intellectual capacity to understand. This is shown by the fact that she does not realise that ?Doghouse Reilly' isn't his real name. Dunant creates a very different relationship between the reader and protagonist Hannah Wolfe. Dunant wrote Birth Marks for a modern, 1992 audience during the reign of Thatcher. Therefore the tradition of the heroic crime novel protagonist is dispelled with a fragile human character. Wolfe will directly address the reader and almost write in a stream of consciousness. Wolfe goes to the extent of depicting Wolfe's thought process in ?firstly' and ?one' when she is counting through evidence, as the ?detective juices' are ?flowing'. By tracking the protagonist's thought patterns, the reader feels closer to Hannah Wolfe, knowing her inner thoughts and emotions. Like Marlowe, Wolfe uses self-deprecating humour. She is a single ?wrong side of thirty' female detective. Dunant makes references to the cliché of the heroic crime novel protagonist when she is at her most vulnerable. When Wolfe is kidnapped she makes a mocking reference to the miraculous escapes of ?Modesty Blaise.' This is another example of tur that arises from this archetypal British detective. The realism of this novel means that there are no heroic escapes or even neat resolutions to this tale, - Ultimately the rich are corrupt, the strong ?muscle man' character, who guards Wolfe, only receives sarcasm in retaliation and the possible killer of Carolyn Hamilton- Daniel Deveaux ends up with the Belmont estate.

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