Rasna AtwalWriting 39BKirsty SingerThe Big SleepThe Big Sleep is a novel set in the 1920s in which Marlowe, the main character, was originally hired to deal with a blackmail problem with General Sternwood's daughter , but this private investigation then turns into a larger search as Marlowe discovers more and more. The novel emphasizes the society and type of people that made up the world during this time period and how they interacted with each other and those around them. Detectives were common in this period due to the lack of trust in the people meant to run society (police, etc.). We readers follow Marlowe firsthand to truly understand what a detective goes through and what are the key aspects needed in a detective for a novel to be hardboiled detective fiction. Chandler attempts to show the reader that there was a great deal of corruption in society during this time, highlighting the depression period and the imbalance of wealth among people. The corruption within this novel is evident when Vivian tells Marlowe that he is being blackmailed for $5,000. She tells him that she had received a letter with a naked photo of her sister with which a woman later called and asked for money for the rest of the photos and negatives. This woman knew that the Sternwoods were extremely wealthy, so she used this to her advantage. However, the Sternwoods are not innocent people. They got rich off the oil fields which in the novel are described as dirty, Chandler describes them this way and states things like they could have looked at what made them rich but chose not to. They have contributed to the imbalance of wealth between the people and the people... in the middle of the paper... where you live." "She's a crook, shamus. I'm a scammer. We are all scammers. So we sell each other out for a penny…” This quote highlights the point that every man is interested in himself and himself alone, which only adds to this dysfunctional society. For society to function, each person must be willing to give up something for the good of all. I came to this conclusion based on the overall environment Chandler created. He wanted to show readers that the world we live in is corrupt and we need to deal with it. Stumbling upon this, the novel makes you frustrated because you are told that all of society is like this and we just have to deal with it. Chandler does this to motivate the readers that there is corruption present all around us and that we, the people he is frustrating, must do something about it or nothing will ever change..