A Study Of Ethical Orientation In Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep

Raymond Chandler(1888—1959)is an outstanding representative of modern American detective novelist,and his hard-boiled detective novels are listed in the hall of classic literature.In 1954,he won the "Allen Poe Award for Novel",and in 1959,Chandler was elected as the president of the American Association of Detective Writers."The Big Sleep" is Chandler’s first novel.Detective Marlowe also appears for the first time.This novel sets the tone for Chandler Marlowe’s series.It is in line with Dahir Hammet’s "The Maltese Falcon" and James M.Cain’s "Double Indemnity" are listed as masterpieces of hard-liners.Chandler believes that detective novels must be realistic and express ethical connotations through works.Therefore,this article mainly uses literary ethics criticism,combined with social historical criticism and feminist criticism and other theoretical methods to analyze the ethical structure,ethical environment,the ethical choice of the detective,the ethical connotation of the work,and the reasons for its formation.The thesis consists of three parts:introduction,main text and conclusion.The main text has four chapters.The first chapter combs the ethical structure of the novel and analyzes the ethical contradictions and tragedies shown by the ethical mainline and ethical knots.First of all,the plot of the novel is connected by crimes,and the ethical structure is formed by ethical lines and ethical structures.The main line of ethics is intertwined with the side lines,and the ethical knots are connected together through the ethical line.The ethical thread of the work is the case of Regan’s disappearance,and the resulting ethical knots include Geiger’s death,Owen’s fall to the sea and Brody’s manslaughter.In addition,there are ethical side lines in the novel.The first side line is the Geiger blackmail incident.The resulting ethical knots include the killing of Harry and the killing of Canino.The second line is the choice of the police.It is a separate vertical structure without ethical knots.Secondly,it analyzes the ethical contradictions of minor crimes.These crimes extended from the main line show the evil of human nature under individual choice and the social dilemma of marginalized figures.Finally,there is the ethical tragedy of the core murder case.The ethical consciousness of the murderer Carmen is chaotic,completely swallowed by animal factors,the lack and return of family identity runs through Carmen’s fall and redemption.The second chapter mainly uses social and historical criticism to analyze the breakdown of ethical environment and moral order from the three aspects of the rich,the gang and the police.The first is to analyze the alienation of the wealthy class from two aspects:the invasion of money worship culture and the moral decline behind money.The second is the rampant gangs.The reason for the emergence and formation of gangs and the damage to the city are analyzed.Finally,there is the negligence of the police,which is analyzed from the absence of judicial justice and the ethical choices made by the police,either in the same way or following the trend.The third chapter analyzes the image change and ethical choice of the detective.In the comparison between Marlowe and Sherlock Holmes,the representative of the classical school,he analyzes the changes in the detective’s image and points out that Marlowe is a single,ordinary civilian detective.After finding out the truth,Marlowe fell into an ethical dilemma.After making an ethical choice,Marlowe felt nihilistic and confused.Even though he was disappointed and depressed,Marlowe persisted in the struggle alone.This is related to the chivalry he adheres to,which is mainly analyzed from mythological prototypes and modern variations.The fourth chapter is to analyze the ethical connotation and reasons of "Eternal Sleep".The ethical connotation is mainly to assume social responsibility,consolidate family ethics and the lonely struggle of individual heroes.The reasons for the formation of this connotation include personal reasons and social reasons.Personal reasons are the penetration of life experiences such as family and marriage,school education and classic literature.The social reason is the double blow of the era background such as war and economic crisis,and the influence of American urban life.The conclusion part summarizes how Chandler expresses the ethical orientation,unearths the connection between Chandler’s hard-line works and the real society and the life enlightenment to readers,and shows the realistic meaning and unique value of Chandler’s creation.