Farewell, My Lovely

While drinking alcohol, specifically liquor, is symbolic of many things throughout the novel, comradery is one of the most obvious. Whenever Marlowe meets a stranger and hopes to extract information, they share drinks to lubricate the conversation. Whether Marlowe meets Malloy, the hotel owner, Marriott, Anne, Mrs. Grayle, Randall, or virtually any other character in the novel, he always shares a drink with them. Usually, Marlowe uses these shared drinks to his advantage—the other person lets their guard down which enables him to get information.

Alcohol is also symbol of Marlowe’s status as an anti-hero, or a person who goes against the grain of civilized society. He is an unashamed drinker, and drinks even when societal etiquette would dictate otherwise. This is best seen when he visits Mrs. Florian’s nosey neighbor. At first she trusts him, but once she smells liquor on his breath, she is immediately skeptical of his motives because, according to her, upright individuals don’t drink liquor. This happens again when Marlowe meets with Mrs. Grayle and Anne. Both Mrs. Grayle and Marlowe guzzle their drinks, but Anne doesn’t drink hers at all. Anne is there on business; once she leaves, Mrs. Grayle and Marlowe kiss behind Mr. Grayle’s back. In this way, the excessive use of liquor in this moment symbolizes each character’s true motives for the meeting.