The Big Sleep Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

Let's set the scene, shall we? The Big Sleep opens with a description of the Sternwood mansion and the first thing that catches Marlowe's eye is a stained glass panel:The main hallway of the Sternw...

In the very first sentence of The Big Sleep, Marlowe tells us that, "It was about eleven o'clock in the morning with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothill...

For this one, turn to Chapter 24 when Marlowe finds Carmen lying naked in his bed. Trying to be the chivalrous knight, Marlowe asks Carmen to get dressed and leave. He looks down at his chessboard...

Marlowe tells us that inside the Sternwood greenhouse, "the plants filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men. They smelled as...

First things first: the oil pumps serve as the burial ground for Rusty's murdered body. Now there's all kinds of symbolic baggage there. But let's look beyond the obvious for a second, and take a l...