How Is Sam Spade An Ideal Hero

The ideal characteristics within Sam Spade

In Raymond Chandler’s essay, “The Simple Art of Murder,” he expresses his ideal hero, “If there were enough like him, the world would be a very safe place to live in, without becoming too dull to be worth living in.” With this, Sam Spade in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon fulfills and embodies Chandler’s description of a hero and hard-boiled detective through his independence from others, toughness through opposition, and solemnity to his morals and values throughout the novel.

Sam Spade’s independence is a key factor that fits Chandler’s description of the ideal hero. For one, he operates on his own without being in or getting help from the police force. This means that he makes his own decisions without any foreign influence, which could bias his views. I showed this when Spade says, “I’ll tell it or not as I damned please” (Hammett 19). This expresses his independence and opposition to authority, such as the police. This is a common characteristic of hard-boiled detective showing their independence and their authority.

The ability to overcome obstacles is crucial for success as a detective, such as Spade. He proves this mental strength after telling Brigid that he turned her into the police and she tried to guilt trip him, which prompts him to respond with, “I won’t play the sap for you” (Hammett 215). The use of allusion to describe how Spade feels like Brigid is trying to manipulate him shows us that this is a battle that Spade is fighting against mentally. Brigid is using her manipulation to try to reverse the decision of turning her in, yet Spade prevails. This is exactly what Chandler describes as the ideal hero, which is a person who’s able to succeed in losing situations such as this scene in the