the long goodbye essay

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The Long Goodbye Summary & Study Guide

The Long Goodbye Summary & Study Guide Description

Phillip Marlowe, a private investigator, first sees Terry Lennox outside a club. Terry is very drunk and falls from his car. Marlowe picks him up and helps him get home. He similarly rescues Terry again when he's drunk on a street and attracting the attention of a cop. The two spend a few evenings together drinking gimlets until the day Terry arrives at Marlowe's apartment asking for a ride to the airport in Tijuana. Marlowe obliges and is soon questioned by the police for his involvement in helping Terry escape after killing his wife, Sylvia. Marlowe refuses to answer questions, which earns him several nights in jail until the police have word of Terry's suicide in Mexico and a signed confession. Marlowe thinks it's too convenient but can't prove anything.

He's approached by a book publisher named Spencer to help Roger Wade finish a book. Roger is drinking heavily and Spencer, at the urging of Roger's wife Eileen, believes Marlowe can find the cause and eliminate it. Eileen then says that Roger has been missing three days and Marlowe agrees to find him. He makes a series of discoveries soon after locating Roger - Eileen was previously married to Terry Lennox though he used the name Paul Marston on the marriage license and that Roger was sleeping with Sylvia at the time of her murder. He deals with a houseboy named Candy who wants to protect Roger and believes Marlowe represents a danger to Roger and with Eileen's seemingly uncaring attitude toward her husband. Roger is soon found dead in his study of an apparent self-inflicted bullet wound. In the end, Marlowe wins Candy's loyalty by determining that Eileen killed Roger and showing his own trust in Candy. Sylvia then commits suicide and leaves a confession that it was also she who killed Sylvia.

Marlowe continues to worry about Terry's death. He seems to think that it might have been murder and it's not until near the end of the story that he latches onto a seemingly slight inconsistency in the story. Terry wrote a letter to Marlowe and sent him a five thousand dollar bill. He writes that he's sending a waiter with the letter to the mailbox on the corner near his hotel. With a little research, Marlowe discovers that the Mexican town is little more than a village and that there are no mailboxes. He questions a friend of Terry's - one of two men saved when Terry risked his life to throw a missile that had landed in their foxhole. Soon, the friend, Randy Starr, sends a note introducing a Mexican man named Cisco Maioranos. Marlowe soon reveals that he knows the man's true identity is Terry Lennox.

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• The Long Goodbye Summary

by Raymond Chandler

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Philip Marlowe meets Terry Lennox outside a club one night in 1949. In 1950, Lennox arrives at Marlowe’s house asking for a ride to Tijuana but does not tell Marlowe details of why.

Marlowe later learns that Lennox’ wife was murdered. Investigators think Marlowe helped aid Lennox in the death. When Marlowe is released from prison, it is revealed that Lennox committed suicide and left Marlowe a note containing a portrait of Madison and money.

Howard Spencer is a publisher who asks for Marlowe’s help in finding one of his prized writers, Roger Wade , who has gone missing. He finds Wade in an isolated ranch. However, after a few more visits to their house and being seduced by Mrs. Wade, Marlowe begins to fear something is not adding up.

Additionally, many people are threatening Marlowe to let go out investigating the Lennox case. He discovers later that Lennox was also known as Paul Marston and was married.

Wade invites Marlowe over for lunch one day. When he goes for a walk midday and arrives back to the house, Wade is dead, apparently having committed suicide. Marlowe interrogates Mrs. Wade and discovers it was actually her who killed both Lennox’s (a former husband) wife and Wade. She then commits suicide admitting to her crimes.

Then, Marlowe is visited by an unknown Mexican man, who states that he was there when Lennox committed suicide. Marlowe states that this is a lie and reveals that the Mexican man is Lennox, who has changed his appearance through plastic surgery.

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The Long Goodbye Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Long Goodbye is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Study Guide for The Long Goodbye

The Long Goodbye study guide contains a biography of Raymond Chandler, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Long Goodbye
• Character List

Essays for The Long Goodbye

The Long Goodbye essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler.

• Racism as It Relates to the Detective: Marlowe's Negative Stereotypes in 'The Long Goodbye'

Lesson Plan for The Long Goodbye

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Long Goodbye
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Long Goodbye Bibliography

Deep Analysis: The Long Goodbye

[In celebration of the forthcoming release of L.A. Noire, Flixist has teamed up with its sister sites Japanator and Destructoid to give a bit of background on what noir (we’re spelling it that way) is all about. Throughout the next week and leading up to L.A. Noire’s release, we’ll be reviewing/analyzing classic noirs set in L.A., explaining exactly what noir is and a few more awesome things.]

The detective fiction genre is one of the oldest and noblest of American literary genres. The genre has gone through various phases, from the earliest of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories ( The Purloined Letter ) to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s magnificent collection of Sherlock Holmes stories to the typical and defined hard-boiled detective novels of Raymond Chandler. The problem concerning all types of film adaptations is trying to strike a balance between including as much information as possible from the source material while also condensing long stories into an entertaining, yet satisfying end product for the masses to indulge.

Unfortunately, a lot can be lost in translation, and Robert Altman’s 1973 adaptation of Chandler’s The Long Goodbye is an example of what happens when too much of the source material is altered. While Sam analyzed exactly what defines film noir , I’m going to analyze the difference between Chandler’s Philip Marlowe and Altman’s Philip Marlowe and how that difference affects the conventions of the genre as a whole.

The main crux of both the hard-boiled detective and film noir genres is the protagonist. In any typical film noir, the protagonist is a detective of sorts, seemingly existing outside of the trappings of the society surrounding him. In Chandler’s brilliant essay, “The Simple Art of Murder,” he writes, “But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective in this kind of story must be such a man. He is the hero; he is everything. […] He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.” The Long Goodbye is no different in following this convention. The main character, Philip Marlowe (played by Elliot Gould in the film adaptation), is a struggling private investigator with a quick quip for any occasion. However, it seems as if the similarities between Chandler’s Marlowe and Altman’s Marlowe ends here.

The reason for this falls on the tone and overall direction that the novel and film take. The novel, published in 1953, takes place in the late 40s, whereas the film is adapted to a contemporary 70s setting. Obviously, the difference between the double decades leads to a generational gap for the stories. Altman made a conscious decision to set the film in the 70s, but structures Marlowe’s personality around the typical 50s film noir protagonists. However, this just doesn’t work for the film as a whole. In an attempt to illustrate and sort of satirize the conventions of the film noir detective, he just alienates Marlowe.

Earlier, I mentioned that the hard-boiled/film noir detective chooses to live outside of society, but Altman’s Marlowe is always an outsider looking in rather than being aware and understanding of the game, but choosing not to play it. In fact, to even consider Altman’s Marlowe a detective is a bit of a stretch. Yes, he’s initially hired to investigate the whereabouts of a missing person, Roger Wade, but once he’s found, all forms of detective work end. He’s on a personal mission to clear the good name of his friend, Terry Lennox, but rather than investigate the case, he falls into a series of events that ends with the incidental discovery of the true nature of Terry Lennox. I don’t buy it one bit.

The main problem I have with this film depiction of Philip Marlowe is how the film concludes. After going through hell trying to clear Terry Lennox’s name, he finds him in Mexico, hiding away from the rest of the world, so to speak. After his admission of guilt, Marlowe shoots and kills him. This completely goes against what we’ve expected out of Marlowe throughout the film’s narrative. It’s way too out of character. The viewer doesn’t achieve a sense of redemption or that Marlowe truly found a bit of closure in this. The only way I could possibly find justification of Marlowe’s act is if he simply grew tired of defending Lennox, just to find out he was guilty all along. Bland.

Thusly, we’re left with the question, “Is The Long Goodbye a film noir?” To that, I would say no; rather, I’d consider it a neo-noir. There are still some conventions left over from the genre that Altman included and satirized, such as Marlowe’s sarcastic, loner, detective character; the femme fatale who possess inside knowledge unknown to the rest of the cast in the form of Nina Van Pallandt’s Eileen Wade; and the implication (but not blatantly obvious) of the seedy underbelly of society in the film’s creation of the Marty Augustine character and his group of goons (with a cameo by a very young Arnold Schwarzenegger).

Further evidence of Altman’s satirical take of the film noir conventions is in the musical number of the eponymous song, “The Long Goodbye.” In fact, the majority of the songs played through the film involve various renditions of the theme song, whether it’s played by a jazz piano or a capella. Other visual characteristics of the typical film noir, like black and white/heavy dark shadows/chiaroscuro don’t exist in The Long Goodbye , but again, that’s because of the decision to move away from the trappings of the film noir genre.

Enough about whether or not The Long Goodbye falls in line with the rest of the genre or whether or not it can compare to the novel it’s based on (it doesn’t, in case you’re interested). Rather, as should always be the case for all types of film, is whether or not it’s any good or entertaining. Is it entertaining? Definitely. Elliot Gould is great as the sarcastic Philip Marlowe, full of witty one-liners for any event. In an earlier scene, he asks a grocery attendant if he had a cat, and the following exchange played out:

Grocery Attendant: “What do I need a cat for? I got a girl.” Philip Marlowe: “Oh haha, he’s got a girl, I got a cat.”

It’s this kind of wit that makes you yearn for a film noir/neo-noir starring somebody like Robert Downey, Jr. The rest of the cast is… hit or miss, to put it lightly.

Out of the list of films we’re covering for our special film noir week, I’d have to say that The Long Goodbye is the weakest. If you’re expecting a straight-out detective film, you won’t find it here. However, as a whole, it’s an interesting film to watch and see how it plays along with the conventions of the genre and how it’s different from other straight black-and-white film noirs (both visually and thematically). If you enjoyed The Long Goodbye , I recommend other Raymond Chandler novels and film adaptations, like the classic Humphrey Bogart film, The Big Sleep .

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The Long Goodbye

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-10

Chapters 11-20

Chapters 21-30

Chapters 31-40

Chapters 41-53

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Philip Marlowe is one of the least financially secure characters in the novel but also one of the most moral. How does his financial status affect his morality?

How do the characters struggle to deal with their repressed trauma?

How does the portrayal of alcohol suggest that the society depicted in The Long Goodbye is hiding many secrets?

How is the city of Los Angeles portrayed in the novel?

Lennox undergoes several identity changes in the book. To what extent is the real Lennox ever seen?

Even if Roger really died by suicide, would Eileen Wade still be considered responsible for the death of her husband?

The institutions of Los Angeles are portrayed as hollow, useless behemoths, beholden to the interests of the rich and powerful. How does the portrayal of social institutions reflect the portrayal of society as a whole?

How does Harlon Potter shape reality? Who is able to challenge him on this?

To what extent is capitalism cited as the cause of the society problems depicted in The Long Goodbye ?

What is the meaning of the title The Long Goodbye ? How does Marlowe both support and contradict this meaning?

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