Chandler on the Trayvon Martin Case

    I'm sure all of you who are reading this blog have heard at least something about the Trayvon Martin vs George Zimmerman case and if you haven't wake up and turn on the news because it has been the talk of the United states from the last couple of weeks.

    Many people automatically assume Zimmerman is wrong because the boy was a child minding his own business and they believe it was an act of racism but have they looked at both side of the story? Were they there? Did they find out everything they need to before they could make a assumption on whose right and wrong? I think not.

    Me being a detective/crime writer I put some of myself into my main character Philip Marlowe. Marlowe is someone who gets every bit of detail to solve a case and that is how I feel about this one. Do I think he could have went about it another way other then killing the boy? Well yes but we don't know the whole story. It could have been anything from a misunderstanding to an act of racism and we only know one side since Trayvon is now dead. Could there be things Zimmerman is not telling us to protect himself or he telling nothing but the truth? Personally I think this is something investigators should look more into and only discuss the findings with the families of those involved when you involve the media peoples words getting twisted and things seem a way they are not like in my story "Red Wind" the news paper print facts the next morning that were not entirely true. Everyone is trying to cover someone's but in the media. I believe we as a nation should stay out of it and let investigators, judges and police officers do there job although you are all entitled to your own opinion.


(This blog doesn't contain my personal opinion just the one I believe Raymond Chandler would have)

Red Wind: Literary Analysis

    Red Wind is a detective/crime short story by Raymond Chandler in 1946 which also falls into the hard-boiled fiction category. The story adds to his collection of detective short stories, novels and screenplays. The story like many of his other story falls under the hard-boiled fiction category.  Red wind has a great story line, a lot of imagery, and motifs.

    Red Wind take place on a warm night in Southern California, we know this because that is where the Santa Ana winds occur. Chandler opening paragraph grabs your attention from the start of the story when he described the effect the Santa Ana winds have on the town and the people. We know from the beginning this is an important part in the story and will be reminded throughout the entire story.

    The main character in the story is a detective by the name of Philip Marlowe, this is a main character in many of Chandlers other stories. Marlowe is also the narrator of the story so we see things through his prospective and since he is a detective he notices a lot of things and goes into great detail. There is also a lot of imagery in the story almost as if you are there yourself. Marlowe is minding his own business in a bar with two other people, a drunk at the end of the and the bartender. A man walks in looking for a woman and give a very detailed description of the woman's outfit which sets a red flag off in the narrators head.  The drunk at the end of the bar ends up killing the man who he calls "Waldo" and runs out. This is all in the first chapter of the story. Having the murder take place in the first chapter hooks the reader and this isn't even the climax of the story.

    Since Marlowe is a detective and the man charter he finds out many things throughout the story such as the woman's name is Lola and she was meeting "Waldo" to get her pearls, The killer (who he caught) killed "Waldo" because he went to jail for a bank robbery and he didn't, Lola's husband is having an affair and was being blackmail by "Waldo". All of these characters tie into each other at the end of the story. In the end of the story we see Marlowe as a chivalrous hero. He has showed courage and sensitive from enter a stranger's home to help Lola find her pearls to having an encounter with death when the killer tries to eliminate all the witness who were at the bar. Chandler puts Lola in the story as a damsel in distress to show Marlowe sensitivity he says he'll do anything for her after she saves his life. Marlowe goes out of his way to protect her feelings and always has her best interest at heart. The red winds which we also see throughout the story are a motif for violence and death since crazy things are said to happen when the winds are out. I believe the author uses red winds because read makes you think of blood and violence as well.

    All of Marlowe's characteristics are the ones a hard-boiled detective should have. He is a complete man and common man yet an unusual man with his eyes on the prize. The elements such as the dark nights with not many people on the street and harsh winds also play into the hard-boiled fiction. The whole story screams hard-boiled.


Picture Source:

    "C a B I N E S S E N C E: Red Dawn." C a B I N E S S E N C E. Web. 29 Apr. 2012. <http://thecentralshaft.blogspot.com/2010/10/red-dawn.html>.


    "SOEY MILK: Fall2010." SOEY MILK. Web. 29 Apr. 2012. <http://milkbomb.blogspot.com/2011/01/fall2010.html>.





 

Raymond Chandler is hard-boiled

When people hear the name Raymond Chandler they think crime fiction or detective fiction. They also think about the famous character Philip Marlowe who was first introduced to us in the novel "The Big Sleep" which was published in a famous magazine called The Black Mask. Raymond Chandler is known for the mark he left on the hard-boiled fiction. Although Chandler did not start hard-boiled fiction he was one of few successors. What is hard-boiled fiction? Hard-boiled fiction is an unsentimental style of American crime writing that was brought to the detective fiction field by Dashiell Hammett. It includes sex and violence and usually takes place in an urban area where crime is active. Hard-boiled fiction also uses a lot of slang and fast pace speech. The term hard-boiled came from the fact that hard boiled eggs are tough just like the detectives in these hard-boiled novels. Raymond Chandler along with other writers perfected the hard-boiled writing style. Almost all of Chandler's works fall into the hard-boiled category he is very faithful to that style of writing and he has made a name for himself by doing so. Stories and Novels that follow the hard-boil theme are "The Big Sleep", "Red Wind", "Farewell, My Lovey", and "The Little Sister". All of these story deal with corruption in urban cities that need a detective to solve the case and they all include some sort of violence.

Sources:


    "Hard-boiled Fiction (American Literature)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/254914/hard-boiled-fiction>.


    "Hard-Boiled Fiction." Enotes.com. Enotes.com. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.enotes.com/hard-boiled-fiction-criticism/hard-boiled-fiction>.


     "Hardboiled." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardboiled>. (Picture source also)


Picture Source:


    "The Big Sleep." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Sleep>.

Life as Raymond Chandler

   Raymond Chandler was one of the best crime and detective fiction writers of the 20th century. Raymond was born July 23rd, 1888 in Chicago, Illinois. When Raymond was just a boy his father abandoned the family but that did not stop him from succeeding in school. Raymond study foreign language outside of the United States and originally decided to be apart of the civil services but later he changed his mind, deciding it wasn't the job for him. Raymond went through plenty of dead end jobs and struggles such as alcoholism, infidelity and unhappiness before becoming a semi successful writer. Before being fired from his last job and starting writing he met Cissy Pascal, who at the time was married. He fell in love and after much waiting married her on February 6th, 1924.

   Raymond had always been a writer and after being job less for a year decided to turn his writing skills into a profession. Raymond publish his first professional work in 1933 "Blackmailers Don't Shoot" and later his first novel "The Big Sleep" staring his famous character Philip Marlowe in 1939 who was in a number of his literary works after. From there on Raymond continued to write novels, short stories and screen plays until he passed away. Raymond won two Academy Awards for his novels and some became basis for movies.

   Raymond was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America just a year before passing way on March 26th, 1959 at age 70 in California but only after Cissy did in 1954. Raymond's last four years of life were his worst he suffered from depression due to losing Cissy and attempted suicide. Raymond definitely left his mark on hard-boiled novels, detective fiction and crime fiction. Although Raymond Chandler is gone, he will never be forgotten.

Sources:
    "Authors and Creators: Raymond Chandler." The Thrilling Detective Web Site. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/chandler.html>.


     "Raymond Chandler." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler>. (Picture source also)


    "Raymond Chandler." Www.kirjasto.sci.fi. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rchandle.htm>.