Brian raises some interesting points in his reply to me on
existentialism and hardboiled - specifically Hammett. He
claims that Sam Spade, or for that matter, the Continental Op
does what he does because
"it's the right thing to do". Right equals moral. So he acts
in a moral way and therefore is not an existentialist. Wrong
on two counts.
Existentialism is not amoral, immoral and certainly not
sociopathic. The existentialist simply believes morality is
rooted in the specific choices of the individual rather than
in any universals or eternality. The external world is viewed
as essentially meaningless. However, the existentialist puts
huge weight on free choice, the ability of the individual to
create his or her own morality and world. A case could be
made that the noir outlook, which Michael Robison sees as
"pessimistic determinism" is definitely not existentialist.
The existentialist accepts no form of determinism pessimistic
or not.
Let's look again at Spade in the Maltese Falcon. He is
screwing his partner's wife. His partner is a sleaseball.
Spade does not claim to be above the shady deal. He acts NOT
to do the "right thing" but because of what he is, created by
the choices he has made so far in life -- a private
investigator. Someone kills your partner, you do something.
As simple as that.
Or the Continental Op in Couffignal. "I'm a detective because
I like the work. ...It's the only sport I know anything
about, and I can't imagine a pleasanter future than
twenty-some years more of it." Or when she offers herself to
him, he responds: "I'm a man hunter and you're something that
has been running in front of me. There's nothing human about
it. You might just as well expect a hound to play tiddlywinks
with the fox he's caught."
When it comes to the right thing, how do you explain the last
two lines of Couffignal: "You ought to have known I'd do it!
... Didn't I steal a crutch from a cripple?"
I am not saying all hardboiled fiction is existential.
However, I do feel the label fits the best of Hammett and
Hammett is the best of the best. I doubt if Hammett wrote
consciously as an existentialist. That's a European thing to
do (No Exit- Sartre, The Stranger - Camus). And Hammett is
about as American as a writer can be.
Personally I find the harshness, the clarity of this POV the
great appeal of hardboiled writing. Especially in times when
perhaps a few too many people out there are convinced they
have discovered the universal truth and it is their duty to
impose this truth on the rest of us.
Amen.
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