My late comments are due to a rereading of THE MALTESE FALCON
on this
(Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend. My take on Spade is that he
is no shining knight but looks out for himself first and
foremost. In regards to women, I don't see that he is in love
with Effie, or that she is in love with him.
In regards to Brigid, I interpret the ending as Spade telling
it straight: he has feelings for her, these feelings might
amount to something or might not. He knows she has lied since
the beginning, and has known that she killed Miles from the
get-go as well. But this does not affect Spade's feelings; he
still thinks he may love her, which is why throughout the
novel he asks Effie's opinion of Brigid, because he feels
something special for Brigid even knowing that she is rotten,
and he trusts Effie's instincts.
At the end I believe that he would have let Brigid off the
hook had Wilmer been around to be the fall guy, but in his
absence Spade needs someone to take the heat and so turns
Brigid in. This does not mean he doesn't have feelings for
her; he does, but his own self-preservation comes first.
Spade openly admits he does not know what love is, but is
willing to give Brigid a shot when she gets out of prison,
unless she gets the death penalty.
I also read the three Spade short stories but didn't feel
that they fleshed out his character in any way; in fact I
felt they were light years from the quality of the
FALCON.
Keith Logan
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