The Long Goodbye Blog Post 1
Due Tuesday, December 11
Connor Byrne
a)
The dangers of
alcoholism are outlined in The Long
Goodbye By Raymond Chandler through the actions and words of Roger Wade and
Phillip Marlowe. Roger wade, the troubled writer, has a very serious drinking
problem that has gotten in the way of his work and his personal success. He has
problems finishing what he has started, and is currently in the middle of a
book that he cannot finish, “We are in bad trouble over Roger Wade. He can’t finish
a book…The man seems to be going to pieces. Wild fits of drinking and temper.” (93)
His drinking has gotten to a point where it is out of control and it is clear
that no one can help him except for himself. We see this drunken behavior first
hand when he writes on the typewriter, “The glass on the table is empty. It
would take both hands to pour the stuff now. I could get one out of the bottle
maybe to brace me. The taste of the stuff is sickening…You suffer and you take
a drink and for a little while it is better,” (204) He knows that he has a
drinking problem and has tried to face it but hasn’t had any success. Marlowe
has been the one attempting to help Wade with his drinking problem and Wade has
confided in him with some things. Wade has told Marlowe that he knows he has a
problem but doesn’t seem to want to fix it. Marlowe also has a bit of a
drinking problem himself. He seems to want to hit the bottle whenever things
aren’t going smoothly. If something happens that doesn’t work in his favor and
is putting him through stress, he needs a drink. After Candy interrupts Marlowe
and Eileen Wade when they are in bed, Marlowe explains, “I went down the stairs
fast and crossed into the study and grabbed the bottle of Scotch and tilted it.
When I couldn’t swallow any more I leaned against the wall and panted and let
the stuff burn in me until the fumes reached my brain.” (213). After this
incident where Marlowe gets extremely drunk he is not functioning to his full
capacity and it is clear that he is not thinking clearly, “Something inside me
has gone sour. …How much loyalty can a dead man use? Phooey: I was looking at
life through the mists of a hangover.” (221) He recognizes that he is hung-over
and that the choices he made the night before did not have a good result.
Drinking excessively the night before has affected him physically and is
causing him some problems with the tasks he needs to get done.
b)
Marlowe conducts
himself with the people he comes across every day very methodically and makes
everything very simple and easy to follow for himself. I think that this is a
way for him to make the process faster and more straightforward. An example of
this is when he is discussing Terry Lennox’s death with Harlan Potter, “Maybe
you had better let me have my own notions Mr. Potter. They are not important,
naturally, but they’re all I have…I'm not finished being methodical, Mr.
Potter.” (230) This is a good way to deal with someone that is arguing with
you. When Marlowe doesn’t like someone he often will let them know. He acts
very cold to the person and is very selective and clever in choosing his words.
There is an instance of this when Marlowe has a encounter with the cocky Dr.
Vucanich, “I went on out. The waiting patients looked at me with disapproving
eyes. That was no way to treat Doctor.” (132) We see another good example of
this when Marlowe needs to help Wade up the stairs and Dr. Loring arrives
looking like “a man who has been asked to clean up after the dog got sick”
(191). He questions Marlowe and seems to be suspicious of him. Marlowe is
actually helping Wade out a lot and being much more productive than Dr. Loring,
“Just a minute, Doc…This man called me on the phone and I live some way off…I
broke every traffic law in the state…found him lying on the ground.” (192). Marlowe
does not want to put up with people treating him disrespectfully and will let
them know it under any circumstances.
c)
Raymond Chandler’s
use of idiosyncratic figurative language is effective in developing character,
developing plot, and contributing to theme. By the different uses of figurative language,
Marlowe’s words show us how he feels and what his perspective on a situation
is. He says, “She still looked like a golden dream.” (219) when he was thinking of Eileen which
can show us that he is attracted to her. With the way that Marlowe talks, we
instantly know whether he likes or dislikes the person he is talking to. With
his interaction with Dr. Amos Varley, Marlowe can see what the man is like after
he had only spoken one sentence. Marlowe says, “He had that bedside manner,
thick, honeyed layers of it. He was wonderful – and he was as tough as armor
plate.” (133) He is displaying how he can see right through Dr. Varley’s layers
of honey. Marlowe seems to have a gift for telling what people’s characters are
like which must help him with his occupation. Marlowe also uses figurative
language to add to the setting and the mood of the setting. When he is looking
for “Dr. V” and talks to George Peters at The Carne Organization, it seems like
a very dull and dreary setting. Marlowe
describes, “A minute later a door in the paneling opened and Peters beckoned me
into a battleship gray corridor lined with little offices that looked like
cells…gray steel desk with two matching chairs, gray dictating machine on a
gray stand.” From his description of the Carne Offices we can get a good
perspective on his mood and the setting he is in.
