This study guide consists of approximately 21 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the thin man. This is a noir lite film based on the dashiell hammett novel. May 19, 20 the thin man by dashiell hammett published in 1934 by alfred a. In this detective novel, dashiell hammett introduced what became the iconic crimesolving couple, nick and nora charles. Dashiell hammett also worked on the screenplay, and quite a bit of hammetts original dialog is in the film. The movie version of the thin man is also highly recommended.
A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especially a variety of speech differing from the standard literary language or speech pattern of the culture in which it exists. The thin man 1934 is a detective novel by dashiell hammett, originally published in the december 1933 issue of redbook. The thin man the greatest literature of all time editor eric. Hammetts portrayal of sophisticated new york cafe society during prohibition and his witty protagonists nick and nora charles made this the most popular of his works, if not the most successful critically. Writing a novel analysis allows you to dissect a work of fiction to see what makes it so gripping. Because of the six films about the thin man, many people believe that it is nick charles. It is a common motif used to spark an emotional connection, sympathy, and at times, anger. While nick has many of the same sam spadish qualities as other detectives in the genre, he actually listens to and values the opinion of his wife even if his language is sometimes patronizing. My favorite brunette starring bob hope, dorothy lamour, peter lorre, lon chaney, jr.
The bones are wearing a fat man s clothes, so they couldnt be clyde hes the thin man. A book analysis paper describes factual and personal information regarding a literature work in a short essay form. The thin man, which is dedicated to lillian hellman, is not a pleasant read either. He thinks the bones are clydes body, and that he was killed by his attorney, herbert macaulay, in order to get at his fortune. If theres a war between two worlds, hell call the book you guessed it the war of the worlds. William powell is to dialogue as fred astaire is to dance. The great gatsby takes place during the summer of 1922.
The goal of a literary analysis assignment is to examine a particular piece of writing youve read, explore the authors choices or particular method of writing, and draw a new and interesting conclusion from that examination. At once knowing and unabashedly romantic, the thin man is a classic murder mystery that doubles as a sophisticated comedy of manners. If the most important thing in a story is a time machine, hell call that book the time machine. Literary analysis a hanging by george orwell 99bci. The thin man, novel by dashiell hammett, published in 1934. Van dyke and married cowriters albert hackett and frances goodrich leavened the novels hard. Everything you need to know about the great gatsby setting. The father goes missing after promising to return for his daughters wedding.
The thin man is a sort of noir comic by one of the greats of noir crime history, dashiell hammett, who is best known for creating sam spade in the maltese falcon. By 1933, when hammett published the thin man, the hardboiled detective novel was a wellestablished american genre, with its disillusioned, tough investigators markedly distinct from their. Nick charles is a former detective who has given up his profession to manage his wife noras lumber fortune, which allows the couple to lead an easy life of. The 1920s are a period that is sometimes called the roaring 20s or the jazz age. Thats certainly the case in the thin man 1934, a murder mystery in which the murder and the mystery are insignificant compared to the personal styles of the actors. In dashiell hammetts famous crime novel, we meet one of the detectivestory masters most enchanting creations, nick and nora charles, a rich, glamorous couple who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. Something that many people misinterpret is who the thin man actually is. After the thin man starring william powell, myrna loy, james stewart. John seward, head of a lunatic asylum, and quincey morris, an american from texas, currently visiting holmwood. This 55page guide for the night diary by veera hiranandani includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 60 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis. The daughter tries to convince retired detective nick charles to take the case.
Nick and nora discover selmas missing husband at a chinese nightclub. This one features the lush drinking duo nick and nora charles and opens very much like a screwball. The thin man is a comedy of manners mixed with a solid mystery. Heres where youll find analysis about the book as a whole. Set in postwar vienna, the film centres on american holly martins cotton, who arrives in the city to accept a job with his friend harry lime welles, only to learn that lime has died. Despite the fact that the thin man is set during the great depression, when millions throughout the country are. The thin man 1934 is the first installment of a popular series of six films casting a sophisticated, glamorous, pleasureseeking, and urbane husbandwife detective team william powell and myrna loy as nick and nora charles. A literary analysis is a common academic assignment, usually given to students in both high school and college level english courses. The movies remain a fantastic showcase of the talents and chemistry of william powell and myrna loy. Set in postwar vienna, the film centres on american holly martins cotton, who arrives in the city to accept a job with his friend harry lime welles, only to learn that lime has died viewing his death as suspicious, martins. The novel then shifts to england, where harkers fiancee, mina murray, is visiting her friend lucy westenra, who has accepted the marriage proposal of arthur holmwood, while rejecting the proposals of dr. Nick charles, a former private detective who retired for a life of ease after marrying nora, a wealthy socialite, is drawn into investigating a murder.
Based on the clothes worn by the skeleton, the police deducted that the skeleton was a fat man by the name of rosengreen, known adversary of clydes, and released the findings to the reporters. The nick and nora in this book dont have the pure level of charm and chemistry that made the movies so. It certainly was a song of disdain and that plodding descending bass is just so perfect for the contempt that is in. Nick and nora charles, dashiell hammetts wealthy depressionera detectives, are the hero and heroine of six thin man movies, which were. As they attempt to solve the case, nick and nora share a great. With orson welles, joseph cotten, alida valli, trevor howard. Initially, the movie seems devoted to an old man james garner reading a book to a woman with dementia gena rowlands, but thats just a framing device, as the book is devoted to noah ryan. Dashiell hammetts 1934 novel the thin man is a small but dense piece of detective fiction which follows a former detective, nick charles short for the greek. Wells doesnt try to make things hard for his readers. Exdetective nick charles and his socialite wife nora find their christmas holiday interrupted when nick is pulled into the investigation of a former acquaintances disappearance. Van dyke, with william powell, myrna loy, maureen osullivan, at turner classic movies. A hangingpunishment for everyonea hanging is a short story about the execution of a prisoner by hanging. Learn the major plot points and story structure of the thin man. The dain curse, the maltese falcon, the glass key and lastly and perhaps most memorably, the thin man.
In the novel, the east coast setting is divided into three distinct places. There has rarely been such comic chemistry as that between powell and loy. Martin cothran is a writer and teacher who lives in danville, kentucky, with his wife and four children. The thin man is a 1934 detective novel by dashiell hammett. A rock is thrown through the charleses window, with a note revealing. The thin man, dashiell hammetts classic tale of murder in manhattan, became the popular movie series with william powell and myrna loy, and both the movies and the novel continue to captivate new generations of fans nick and nora charles, accompanied by their schnauzer, asta, are lounging in their suite at the normandie in new york city for the christmas holiday, enjoying the prerogatives. See a complete list of the characters in the old man and the sea and indepth analyses of santiago and manolin. Read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. Hammetts fifth and final novel, the thin man, is a return to firstperson narration, as nick charles narrates the story of a case he unwillingly takes on while vacationing. By 1933, when hammett published the thin man, the hardboiled detective novel was a wellestablished american genre, with its disillusioned, tough investigators markedly distinct from their european. That the thin man cost so little and looks so good is possibly because the interiors are simple and elegant, and the black and white photography flatters the loungewear and formalwear worn by a greatlooking cast which in addition to powell and loy, included maureen osullivan and a young cesar romero. Dashiell hammetts 1934 novel the thin man is a small but dense piece of detective fiction which follows a former detective, nick charles short for the greek charalambides. Failure is not only the heart of christopher isherwoods a single manis also the blood, the flesh, and the soul of. The goal of a literary analysis assignment is to examine a particular piece of writing youve read, explore the authors choices or particular method of writing, and draw a new and interesting conclusion from.
The essay closely examines the main elements of the genre, such as characterization, theme and plot, and how they work together to create a unified story. Dashiell hammetts novel, the thin man launched one of the golden ages greatest detective movie franchises, along with a popular radio program, as well as a 1950s syndicated tv series. In dashiell hammetts the thin man, the relationship of nick charles and his wife nora makes this stand out from other traditional noiredetective novels. The daughter confesses to the secretarys murder in. Failure is not only the heart of christopher isherwoods a single man is also the blood, the flesh, and the soul of this novel. The characters were later adapted for film in a series of movies between 1934 and 1947. The invisible man is an unhappy studentteacher who wants to be more than he is. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. Nick charles is a retired private eye who gets pressed into investigating the murder of a woman in which a former client of his named clyde wynant is a suspect, though wynant who was the actual thin man not charles has been missing for quite some time. Churchs sidekick causes a fight at the west india club. But the thin man was also a well known and much read series, and maybe still is.
Hammetts final novel centers on the life of nick and nora charles, a pair of stylish, wealthy partygoers with a yen for sleuthing and the couples delightful dog, asta. Failure is found at the heart of many great works of fiction. Selma admits to the police that she had followed her husband with a gun. The greatness of a novel is, in the final analysis, a mystery, and perhaps the greatest benefit of analyzing it is to realize just how mysterious it is. In the film gumshoe1971, who noticed the book, the thin man, opened and in front. Now that all the suspects had let down their guard, nick put on the real show. It certainly was a song of disdain and that plodding descending bass is just so perfect for the contempt that is in the song, symbolising the disdain of the slow walk away. What happened is that wealthy clyde wynant is missing, and his daughter dorothy wants nick to help find him. Like the much better movie, it revolves around the efforts of. Most of the characters come from the midwest to the east coast. The author, george orwell was inspired by as an imperial police in burma to write this novel. But theres one tiny detail that keeps the invisible man from being a regular tragedy. Read the full synopsis of the thin man, 1934, directed by w. Pulp novelist holly martins travels to shadowy, postwar vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, harry lime.
Nick and nora charles are fictional characters created by dashiell hammett in his novel the thin man. At once knowing and unabashedly romantic, the thin man is a murder mystery that doubles as a sophisticated comedy of manners. Hammetts final novel centers on the life of nick and nora charles, a pair of stylish, wealthy partygoers with a. Thin man ends the first side of highway 61 lp, and when it was released in 1965 i really did wonder about it. The third man is a 1949 british film noir directed by carol reed, written by graham greene, and starring joseph cotten, alida valli, orson welles, and trevor howard. He creates a gloomy atmosphere, in the first person point of view, and builds.
Opinion the thin man is escapism, from an unlikely source the. Nick and nora charles are hammetts most enchanting creations, a rich, glamorous couple who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. But however delightful the movies are, you have to read the original novel to see what an amazing writer hammett was and what his accomplishment was in this particular book. I bought this book because someone i know online had an essay in it its the one about the thin man television series, which i got to watch in the early 1980s and i wish had been written more about, since i barely now remember it, except for the stars peter lawford and phyllis kirk and the fact that jack albertson was in it. Noras cousin selma calls to say shes in terrible trouble. The thin man by dashiell hammett published in 1934 by alfred a. If youve read or heard about dashiell hammetts hardboiled detective fiction, you may not be prepared for what youll find in the last of his five great novels, the. I was inspired to read the book after catching a marathon of the thin man film series a few. His delivery is so droll and insinuating, so knowing and innocent at the same time, that it hardly matters what hes saying. Orwell uses a variety of literary elements and devices to convey his disproval of capital punishment. Jan 22, 2014 failure is found at the heart of many great works of fiction. So, if he writes a novel and calls it the invisible man, its not too tough to figure out what the story will be about. The novel of course is the basis of the better known the thin man movie, the first and arguably best of the series, starring william powell and myrna loy as the witty, harddrinking duo of nick and nora charles.