The Journey Of The Urban Cowboy

Raymond Chandler,a leading writer of hard-boiled detective fiction,writes that the detective no longer maintain intellectual and physical superhuman status,but fall back into the ranks of the common man.At the same time,his indomitable will reflects a kind of tough guy style inherited from Hemingway and Hammett.However,the connection between Chandler’s hard-boiled detective novels and Early Twentieth Century American cowboy novels is often overlooked.In fact,Marlowe is an urban cowboy in whom the traditional Western spirit developed.In The Long Goodbye,Marlowe experiences three important deaths,which become the three stages of his urban journey:The death of the writer Wade is the first stage of his journey,in which Marlowe gradually establishes his principle of justice.From the acquaintance of Marlowe and Wade to the death of Wade,it is a symbol of the extreme expansion of material desire from the outbreak to the decline,which means that in the consumer society to fight against the desire to uphold the principles of justice needs new development;Eileen’s death is the second stage of his journey,in this death,he experiences a new test.As a femme fatale,Eileen challenges the urban cowboy.Her sexual attraction and control over Marlowe’s choices drove Marlowe into anxiety;Lennox’s death is the third stage in his journey,and Lennox’s acquaintance with Marlowe and his fake death prompted him to think and explore: How to stand on the Western background to defend self-independence,construct historical memory and seek cultural identity.