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Re: RARA-AVIS: Red Wind
Joshua, you are right about Marlowe's "solidarity with the unredeemed"
(I'm in the middle of *The Long Goodbye*, a novel chock full o'
sentimental gestures in honor of the lost Lennox) -- What seemed odd to me
in "Red Wind" was that Marlowe has no connection to Phillips the
four-flusher (a word I had to look up) except a general understanding of
the *type* of man Phillips is. He clearly has these deep feelings for
Lola -- I think it sorta tears Marlowe that he goes through all the
trouble of preserving Phillips' standing in her eyes and then she acts at
the end as if she doesn't give a damn about Phillips anymore -- but these
feelings for Lola come out as a wry "toast" to Phillips. This focus on
Phillips is perhaps not *so* odd in that while Marlowe cares about
Lola, he doesn't understand her (or his feelings for her, probably),
whereas he understands Phillips very, very well.
--Michael
ps for the ignorant (like myself):
Four Flush--Four cards of the same suit.
Four-Flusher--(1) A cheater. (2) One who tries to win pots by purposely
miscalling his hand.
----------------------------------------------------------
Michael D. Sharp, Dept. of English, University of Michigan
(msharp@umich.edu)
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