The Maltese Falcon Themes

Lies and deceit run rampant throughout The Maltese Falcon. Almost every single character tells a lie at one point in the novel, and the lying-est of all liars is of course Brigid O'Shaughnessy. In...

Good old-fashioned greed is the key motivating factor that drives the majority of the characters in The Maltese Falcon. And the object of everyone's greed is the elusive Maltese falcon. The charact...

Our protagonist Sam Spade is a cynical detective who struggles to maintain his integrity within a corrupt society. He lives in a society where crime is so pervasive that he can't leave the house wi...

The atmosphere in this novel is frequently one of competition, rivalry and male aggression. Many of the male characters in this novel are macho, gritty tough guys. There are countless fistfights, a...

There are a limited number of female characters in The Maltese Falcon, and most of them aren't portrayed in a very positive light. Of the three main female characters, Spade likes one (Effie Perine...

Violence in The Maltese Falcon is closely tied to a large number of other themes that appear in the novel. First, violence is linked to theme of men and masculinity because violence serves as a way...

Loyalty gets a real bad rap in The Maltese Falcon. If you're too trusting, you're gonna regret it and likely end up getting betrayed. Loyalty is closely linked to the theme of lies and deception be...

One of the most famous and important moments of The Maltese Falcon appears in Chapter 7 when Spade tells Brigid about the Flitcraft story. Several years ago, Spade was working on a case involving a...