Is Sam Spade a good man? I would tend to argue against it. A good man would be oriented toward helping others and his community. He would be mostly free from sin, yet Sam Spade is guilty of four out of the seven deadly sins, and as evidence I offer up his actions contained within the film The Maltese Falcon.
Within the first few scenes of the film Spade's character is revealed as a womanizer. He has had affairs with both his secretary and his partner Miles Archer's wife. Throughout the film Spade also develops an affair with Brigid O'Shaughnessy. By the end of the film, the only woman having relations with Spade that isn't left out to dry is his secretary. The denotations of Spade's personal life are obvious. They point to his being a less than good man and guilty of lust.
Spade also seems to have questionable motivations for his pursuit of the Falcon itself, namely money. After the killing of Miles, Spade can simply quit himself of involvement in the whole affair and......
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Approximate Pages: 3 (260 words per double-spaced page) |