FUN

Just to let my dedicated followers know, i added a couple things at the bottom of the page to help you procrastinate on whatever homework you're supposed to be doing right now, RETRO STYLE. Sonic the Hedgehog, or Super Mario anyone???

Chandler's Writing

            In The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, Detective Phillip Marlowe is hired to handle the blackmailing of one of two troublesome daughters.  A simple enough story to start but things get a little more complicated as kidnapping, pornography and even murder come into the picture.  Chandler’s writing style keeps you guessing with plot twists at every turn.  What starts out as something that seems comprehendible ends up giving you surprises that you’d never expect.  The fact that Chandler is able to accomplish this makes him one of the great noir writers of all time.

            Carmen Sternwood, daughter of General Sternwood, is being blackmailed by a man named Arthur Gwyn Geiger.   When Marlowe goes to investigate this, he finds Geiger dead and Carmen kidnapped.  On top of that, the ex-husband of the other daughter, Vivian, has disappeared and Geiger’s black market pornography business has been taken over by another mysterious figure.  When Marlowe finds Carmen, he finds her unconscious, naked, and next to a camera in which the film has been emptied.  This leads to more blackmail, corruption in the Sternwood family, and the murder of a police officer.

           

            Chandler builds layer upon layer of mysteries and plot twists.   By leading the reader down what seems like a straight path and then adding twist after twist and turn after turn, he creates a seemingly endless maze that grabs the reader and pulls them deeper and deeper into the story. Chandler’s amazing ability to deliver a false sense of confidence to his reader, only to show them everything they thought was wrong makes him truly one of the noir greats.

Protagonist

In The Big Sleep by Raymond chandler, Private Eye Philip Marlowe is hired by a millionaire to handle the blackmailing of one of his daughters. Philip, while certainly good at what he does, is not a very good person. Marlowe is a heavy drinker, a violent man, and a very mean guy but overall, I somehow find myself rooting for him. when he finds a clue i'm happy and when he gets captured i feel scared for him. i relate to him like i would any other protagonist, yet he is a vulgar and bad man. Certainly no role model. In the Noir genre, the sleuths are often far from perfect but because they are the protagonist we always find ourselves in their corner. why is it that the protagonist is always the one you support, even if they're not someone you'd support in real life?

The protagonist might always be nice, but they always have our support. i believe that the reason the reader can always relate to the protagonist is because we learn so much about them. the more you know about a character, the more you feel like you really know the character. when you know a lot about someone, they are usually very close to you. the more you know about a character in a book, the more they could seem like friends or family

Another reason i believe we are always on the side of the protagonist is that the protagonist is that most books give us a reason to. the protagonist isn't always nice, but there is usually a story about why. Philip Marlowe is a single 35 year old who has never had a wife. he is a heavy drinker and hates his job. he may not be the love of your life but you are able to empathize with him.

In conclusion, even though the protagonist isn't always loveable they are still supported by the reader. this is because the writer makes it so. a writer has the ability to make anything seem appealing in thier book. even Philip Marlowe

Choices

           In Jonas' society, many choices are made for people.  No one chooses their own spouse, their own job, or their own house.  What age you ride a bicycle and what length your hair is is also decided for you.  Practically all choices are made for you.  The people who make these choices for you have even eliminated things like color so you don't have to choose between the red one or the blue one. 

          I believe that the intended benefit of this was to prevent people from making the wrong choices.  It wouldn't matter if it were simply the color of your shirt, but some choices, if made wrong, can have serious consequences.  If I could have a choice made for me, it would be the choice of where I went to school.  Right now, it feels like my entire life revolves around open houses, tests, and interviews.  I feel like it would be a lot easier if this choice  was made for me.

           In conclusion, life is full of choices.  And what decisions you make when these choices become apparent define who you are.  By eliminating all choice, it prevents people from making bad ones, but it practically takes away who you are.  The ability to make choices is what makes you free.  I believe one of the major questions this book poses is:  Is it better to be free or is it better to  be safe?