At 09:21 AM 02/09/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>I'm really flabbergasted that a character who
clearly
>tries as hard to be moral and ethical as Marlowe
does
>is being described as "amoral or immoral" because
he
>has to make hard choices.
I think you are right to be flabbergasted Jim, because a
complex morality is at the heart of noir. That is why
humanity is "doomed", or an atmosphere of doom, as we defined
the genre earlier. I think noir fiction is crime writing
underscored by two basic assumptions:
1) that there is no value in an easily attained morality. A
morality that achieves goodness by virtue of doing what one
would do anyway in self interest, or by virtue of belonging
to the right group (the good people), or out of a desire to
belong to the right group (political correctness), or by
simply being born a good person, is pointless. Why have a
morality if it does not challenge us as individuals to rise
above our limitations?
2) more often than not we will make bad decisions. Either the
circumstances are too complex, or we lack adequate
information or we're just not smart enough to understand, let
alone do the right thing, even when we want to. And anyway,
who is to judge that we've done the right moral thing? Nobody
cares but us humans, questions of faith aside, and we're
hardly in a position of uncorrupt objectivity.
A question- Does noir presume that morality is now an
individual concern? Hammet, Chandler and Macdonald all
featured lone detectives with their own chivalrous codes, or
at least trying to develop them after experiencing the
failure of collective codes of behaviour in twentieth century
warfare. Chandler talked about "a" man walking down these
lonely streets. We do have examples of protagonists working
within collectives to achieve their individual redemption,
but does the genre preclude collectives trying to rebuild
collective moral codes?
>Snide but good-natured cracks about my
Jesuit
>education may now begin.
Well Jim, I figure you're the guy to start a heated
discussion about the nature of goodness, morality and noir.
I've exhausted my limited intelligence just asking the
question.
Best Kerry
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