How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"I'd like to offer you your money back. It may mean nothing to you. It might mean something to me. […] It means I have refused payment for an unsatisfactory job." (30.58)
Oh Marlowe. Why'd you have to go and be all Mr. Noble here? He could have just taken the money and peaced out, but instead he gives it back for a job-not-well-done. What's up with that? Does he think taking the cash will make him somehow corrupt? Guilty? Nasty like the rest?
Quote #8
"I risk my whole future, the hatred of cops and of Eddie Mars and his pals, I dodge bullets and eat saps, […] I do all this for twenty-five bucks a day—and maybe just a little to protect what little pride a broken and sick old man has left in his blood." (32.57)
Marlowe takes great pride in his work as a detective, and we can't help but think that a big reason for that is that he prioritizes his morality above, well, absolutely everything else. Otherwise, what would he have to be proud of?
Quote #9
"I was playing for time. Just for time. I played the wrong way, of course." (32.63)
Vivian says this to Marlowe at the end of the novel to explain the reason why she covered up Rusty's death. What does she mean by saying she "played the wrong way"? What makes her actions morally wrong? Does the fact that she hid the murder to protect her father excuse any of her actions?