I think the only thing that separates Hammett's seminal work
RED HARVEST from an overtly marxist work like Upton
Sinclair's THE JUNGLE is that Hammett doesn't spend the last
part of the book ranting about how international socialism is
the only solution to the modern world's considerable
socio-economic problems. In fact, he doesn't offer any
solution at all to the problems raised by the ultimate
laissez-faire situation that the Continental Op encounters in
Poisonville. Even after the Op tames the town, the underlying
problems that existed in the first place are still in place,
and the little guy is still likely to take it on the
chin.
Reading his work, I'm unsurprised that Hammett was a leftist
in a time like the early 1900s. After all, he saw a lot of
working class people getting screwed during his time as a
Pinkerton (including some strike-breaking work) going up
against the Wobblies out here in the west.
So Hammett (like Sinclair) effectively puts his finger on the
problem when he lays out the situation in the western mining
town of Poisonville (based in part on Butte, Montana). And
his social criticism is both clear-eyed and accurate. He just
doesn't try to lecture the reader on how to fix the problem.
But looking at modern society the way he did, is it
surprising that he supported greater government oversight of
the economy before, during and after the Great Depression,
which came on in large part because of government
indifference in America and abroad?
(I don't want to get into a political discussion on the
merits of what did and did not cause the Great Depression. I
know that there are conservatives on this list who might
disagree with me. I'm merely offering insight into Hammett's
mind-set)
Great topic!
All the Best-
Brian Thornton
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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