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PLACE AND IMAGINATION IN DASHIELL HAMMETT'S THE MALTESE FALCON -…

- - - - Spade's telling of this story to O'Shaughnessy illustrates his own relationship with reality and his emotional disconnection with his work, creating a complex dynamic with himself as the protagonist with the reader, as his neutral, unfazed state amongst the chaos is difficult to characterise
      - This story also acts as an obstacle for O'Shaughnessy within the politics of trust, as Spade does not reveal his emotions which makes him difficult to either decieve or trust
    - - This first falsehood introduces the theme of deceptionl, as the fake story of Miss Wonderly's sister and life in New York - an space which is never visualised in the novel - presents the reader with a warning not trust the characters
- - - - MALTA
        
        The journey of the Falcon begins in Malta, as explained by Gutman in the novel: the Knights of Malta send Emperor Charles 'a glorious golden falcon...with the finest jewels... the finest out of Asia'
      - SPAIN > ALGERIA > ITALY > PARIS
        
        The Falcon's journey to Spain is interrupted by pirates, who 'took the Knights' galley and took the bird', bringing it to Algiers where it remained for 'more than a hundred years' until it was retrieved by English pirate, Sir Francis Verney; or 'maybe it wasn't'
        
        Gutman then begins his own theories of the transportation of the Falcon, believing in his own research and the writings of travellers and historians, such as Dan Pierre,
        
        The Falcon then comes 'into the possession there of Victor Amadeus II' in Italy, then the 'possession of a Spaniard' until it 'appeared in Paris...for seventy years' when it is found by Greek dealer Charilaos Konstantinides
        
        At this point in his story, Gutman himself becomes present, declaring that he is 'not a man that's easily discouraged when he wants something' - his presence at this point highlights the insignificance of the individual in the accumulation of wealth, as many others are working towards the same goal that can only be achieved by one person
      - CONSTANTINOPLE
        
        The deception the characters partake in to achieve materialistic success is evident when Gutman traces the falcon to Constantinople in which O'Shaughnessy and Thursby fled with it to Hong Kong.
      - HONG KONG
        
        The exploitation of capitalism and the self-made man is exposed as deceptive traits of the characters' are consistent, despite the geographical location of the Falcon being inconsistent.
      - SAN FRANCISCO
        
        San Franciso is the prominent location throughout the novel, with the most significance. Perhaps the prominence of San Francisco in the novel is so dominant consequently due to Hammett knowing it like the back of his hand as this where he wrote his novels.
    - - The globe, as discussed, is never presented in the novel as a setting, but rather spoken about from the stage of San Francisco, and therefore acts as an idea or abstract
      - The idea of love and sentimentality is an abstract and vague concept in the novel, as while it is discussed and portrayed through the relationship of Sam Spade and Brigid O'Shaughnessy, neither character's true emotions are ever revealed as each uses romance as a distraction from other goals and agendas
      - Crime and capitalism as a whole are symbolised through the novel's eponymous object, the Maltese Falcon
        
        This idea, in itself, could be a representation of the unattainability of the American Dream
        
        The Wall Street Crash of 1929 (one year before the publication of The Maltese Falcon) revealed the fragility and flaws of the capitalist system, a system where a 'crash' is eventual and inevitable
        
        The idea of the American Dream and the 'self-made man' became mythicised - popularised the time through contemporary modernist literature such as F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby - as the idea of 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' became increasingly more difficult for the lower class, resulting in an increase in organised crime
        
        The Falcon's omnipresence despite never truly appearing illustrates the vague nature of capitalism, as the journey and work behind achieving monetary gain is more real and attainable than its endgoal