Raymond Chandler - 1940 America - The Big Sleep Analysis on two sentences in the novel
Raymond Thorton Chandler was born in 1888-1957 in Chicago, but then 7 years later moved to London with his mother, because his parents were divoced. Through his life, he travelled from places to places learning about language studies. Chandler was an part os an oil company, but lost his job in the Great Depression. Therefore, he began to start his writting career from this. In 1908, he then wrote his first poems named 'The Unknown Love' From 1909-19012, Chandler became a reporter for the London Daily, but still wrote many poems, sketches and essays in his time. From 1933, Chandle wrote many essays and poems including 'Blackmailers don't Shoot', 'Spanish Blood', 'Goldfish' and 'The King in Yellow'. However, he started to write 'The Big Sleep in 1938' and published a year later.
' "Don't fuss with me little man." The purring voice had an edge, like sand in the bearings '. The verb 'fuss' illustrates that he doesn't want Jones to trouble or annoy him. Canino, also knew it wasn't worth a fight. 'little man' makes Jones feel inferior towards Canino, by the way Chandler used this adjective to create hegemony. Therefore, Canino is trying to make Jones feel smaller than him and helpless. The adjective 'purring' would usually be a verb, but is it describing the voice of Jones, so this adjective makes him sound dangerous. This is because it has a connotation to a wild cat, like a tiger or a lion, who are all divous and cunning just like Jones. The use of the metaphor 'edge' also had a connotation to an edge of a knife or cliff, which shows danger and no turning back. This is supported by the simile - 'sand in the bearings' because is demonstrates how easily it can break, therefore referring to Jones and how easily he can break Canino.