The Maltese Falcon: A Detailed Analysis of Sam Spade's Character

This report provides a character analysis of Sam Spade, the protagonist in Dashiell Hammett's *The Maltese Falcon*. The analysis explores Spade's complex personality, highlighting his moral ambiguities, self-interest, and the impact of his actions on the narrative. The report examines Spade's relationships, particularly his interactions with women and authority figures, and the motivations behind his choices, including his involvement with the Maltese Falcon and his pursuit of justice. The report references scholarly sources like Berger and Gale to support its claims and examines Spade's role as a hard-boiled detective. The analysis delves into the detective's loyalty, greed, and the overarching themes of the novel. The conclusion highlights the ambiguity surrounding Spade's actions and the lasting impact of his character on the reader.

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Sam Spade
Sam Spade represents a private detective. Sam is both dynamic and interesting character.
He is the main character who is in pursuit of the statue of the blackbird called the Maltese
Falcon. He appears to be a nice person at the beginning of the book. However, this alters
suddenly the point the movie is completed. He shows a strong distrust of cops alongside other
authority figures. Sam’s treatment of women usually seems thoughtfulness, if not absolute
disrespectful (Gale 56). Like where Sam seduces Iva, the wife of his partner, or where Sam
threatens to strip search Brigid before other men. Sam’s sense of loyalty remains seldom clear.
This is because Sam accepts money as well as agrees to assist diverse people despite having anti-
ethical wishes. However, Sam does seems to have a personal sense of honor that underlies his
actions.
Sam is the protagonist of the book and is blond as well as the well-built individual with
hard, unique facial features. He appears a typical hard-nosed and tough-guy detective of mystery
books. Nevertheless, Sam remains occasionally corrupted by greed as well as self-interest. He
has the common features in the characters of the book. Sam’s persistent pondering, as well as
selfish manner, usually come off as detachedness. At the start of the book, it is clear that Sam has
an affair with the wife of his partner (Berger 68). This leaves us extremely skeptical of Sam’s
morality. Throughout this book, his actions remain noble, yet appear propelled by the monetary
benefits alongside self-preservation as he is suspected of murder. Sam’s redeeming action’s

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motives remain ambiguous as to whether he did so to save his individual tail/avenge the death of
his colleague. We are left wondering since little insight is provided into his character and
background.

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Works Cited
Berger, Arthur Asa. "Nobrow Culture: The Maltese Falcon." Applied Discourse Analysis.
Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2016. 179-186.
Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Dashiell Hammett's" The Maltese Falcon". Gale,
Cengage Learning, 2016.