Re: RARA-AVIS: Flitcraft Parable (was G.I., P.I.)
Robert E. Skinner (rskinner@mail.xula.edu)
Mon, 28 Dec 1998 14:48:01 -0600
ANONYMEINC@webtv.net wrote:
>
> Fred, you made some very interesting points, but I'm
going to focus on
> the Flitcraft Parable. The "beams falling" part of the
story
> certainly
> supports your thoughts, but I've always been fascinated
by the
> continuation of the story, when the beams stop falling.
It's so open
> to
> interpretation. For instance, Spade's take on it is
never clear, he
> strictly reports the facts. So we never know if this is
a warning
> against complacencey or, maybe, simply an observation
on adaptability.
> The Flitcraft parable is my favorite of Hamett's
interior stories,
> like
> the dream in Glass Key and what was it, cannibals, in
Thin Man?
The Flitcraft parable might best be thought of as Spade's
understanding
of the existential universe--a world without rules. Flitcraft
had
fashioned is life by a set of societal expectations, and the
"beams
falling" temporarily convinced him that he'd been walking
blindfolded
all his life, not realizing the random nature of chance. He
thinks, by
leaving his wife, home, and career behind that he's behaving in
a
hard-boiled way, which he is until his nature channels him back
into the
same life he'd always lived. He "got used to them not falling,"
as
Spade says.
--
**************************************
Robert E. Skinner, Director
Xavier University of Louisiana Library
7325 Palmetto Street
New Orleans, LA 70125
(504) 483-7303 (voice)
(504) 485-7917 (FAX)
e-mail: rskinner@mail.xula.edu
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