"The Long Goodbye" Literary Analysis

“The Long Goodbye”, Raymond Chandler’s sixth novel, has been acclaimed as a significant mainstream novel. It transcended the hard-boiled detective fiction genre because it was more than a mystery story. The novel was a commentary on the problems within society, in particular the evil power of money. It was written while his wife was dying from a lengthy illness during a painful time in his life which gave Chandler cause for contemplation. The novel is a reflection on and analysis of his own life as he tried to come to terms with his failings and integrate the conflicting parts of his life.

Many of the characters in the novel represent different elements or phases of Chandler’s life. Philip Marlowe is the idealist whose motives are pure. He is honest and his actions always follow an ethical and moral code. He is able to rise above the world in which he lives and works; to resist the evil influences and people in his life. He never sacrifices his self respect for the lure of money, and is driven by the need to earn everything he has. This is evident in his last contact with Lennox, disguised as Maioranos, when Marlowe returns the Madison ($5,000 bill) that Lennox mailed him from Mexico. The money was intended as payment for Marlowe’s help in his escape from the police in the aftermath of the murder of Sylvia Lennox. Lennox remarks, “I don’t get it. I really don’t. I’m trying to pay you back and you won’t let me. I couldn’t have told you any more than I did. You wouldn’t have stood for it.” (Chandler 815).

Marlowe lives for his work and finds his sense of purpose in it. He explains to attorney Sewell Endicott why he chooses to remain in jail rather than accept his services, “I’m in a business where people come to me with troubles. … How long would they come if any bruiser with a police shield could hold me upside down and drain my guts?” (Chandler 514). This is his declaration that his professional integrity is more important than his personal situation. Marlowe is courageous in the face of adversity when Chandler wants to be. Marlowe is the part of Chandler that he admires, believes in, and clings to.

Like Terry Lennox Raymond Chandler was a soldier, Lennox in World War II and Chandler in World War I. Lennox bore a physical scar on his face that he sustained protecting other soldiers in his unit by carrying a mortar shell out of a foxhole. He was subsequently captured and tortured by the Nazis. Chandler had no visible scars, but was emotionally damaged by his experiences in the service of the Canadian Corps. He led a platoon of men to their deaths at the hands of a German artillery barrage of which he was the only survivor, and was never the same again. Lennox was lured by the easy life of wealth that Sylvia Potter provided at the expense of his self respect. When Marlowe questions Lennox about his choice to remarry Sylvia, Lennox says, “Price tag? There’s always a price tag, chum. You think I’m not happy maybe? ... I’m rich. Who the hell wants to be happy?” (Chandler 479). Chandler worked for a time as an executive with the Dabney Oil Company where he was well paid and enjoyed an opulent lifestyle filled with expensive cars and illicit affairs. Chandler’s out of control lifestyle led to his dismissal while Lennox’ resulted in an identity change and life in hiding from the police.

Roger Wade represents what Chandler has become, and the part of himself that he wants to change, the part that he resents. Wade is an author who settled for writing historical romance novels because of their popularity and the financial wealth they provided. He hates himself because he sold out his dreams. His self loathing and unhappiness result in a search for fulfillment that he never finds. He tries to find companionship through an extra marital affair with Sylvia Lennox. He tries to erase his problems through binge drinking which leads to alcoholism. Marlowe tells Wade that he believes that his drunken suicide attempt was a fake, “You were swimming in a sea of self-pity. …You fired a shot not meant to hit anything. And your wife came running – that’s what you wanted. Just pity and sympathy, pal. Nothing else.” (Chandler 658). Like Wade, Chandler also had a failed suicide attempt, but first phoned the police, so both attempts were a cry for help.

Even though Chandler’s work achieved an elevated status and some of his novels, including “The Long Goodbye”, were considered to be mainstream literary masterpieces he was unable to acknowledge his achievements. He was never completely satisfied with his life or his work, but refused to accept the emptiness of his life with resolve, instead he fought against it. Like Wade, Chandler engaged in relationships with other women, and he used alcohol to mask the pain he felt. Alcoholism took control of his life in the later years and he sought treatment but never regained his sobriety or health.

It is interesting that the most critically acclaimed of Raymond Chandler’s works was also the most personal. It was an honest examination of his life, the emotions and passions that drove him expressed through the characters. It was Chandler’s attempt to face his demons and reunite the conflicting pieces of his character, which may have given it a more genuine quality that contributed to the success of “The Long Goodbye”.

Works Cited

Chandler, Raymond. “The Long Goodbye.” Raymond Chandler. Ed. Alfred A. Knopf. New

     York: Everyman’s Library, 2002. 465 – 817. Print.