The Maltese Falcon is essentially a novel about people making up stories. The characters in the novel demonstrate a remarkable ability and willingness to lie. As each new character is introduced into the plot, a new set of lies are also introduced. The novel is also characterized by an objective style. Dashiell Hammett maintains a third-person point of view that provides no insight into the characters' thoughts or motivations. This interplay between a plot centered on lies and an objective style centered on the lack of understanding of those lies constructs the narrative desire in The Maltese Falcon. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original EssayNarrative desire is the reader's paradoxical desire to arrive at the resolution of a story while simultaneously wishing to prolong the suspense of the story for as long as possible. as long as possible. At the beginning of The Maltese Falcon, Hammett firmly centers his plot on lies. Hammett introduces the reader to Sam Spade and Mrs. Wonderly. Both initially appear as stereotypical characters in a detective novel: Spade as a compassionate private detective who patiently listens to his client's story and Mrs. Wonderly as a hesitant, passive woman under duress who needs a man to save her . However, Hammett immediately reverses this characterization. In two chapters, everything the reader thought he knew turns out to be a lie. Mrs. Wonderly is actually Brigid O'Shaughnessy, whose story is a complete fabrication, and Spade, a bitter and sardonic man who "never believed her story" (33). As each lie is debunked, the reader naturally assumes that a progression toward the truth is occurring. Hammett therefore first plays on his reader's desire to reach the solution of the story. But what replaces these lies is precisely that: more lies. Brigid continues her “schoolgirl attitude… stammering and blushing and all that” (55). But Spade soon realizes that she continues to deceive him. "You're not exactly the kind of person you say you are, are you?" he asks (55). This interaction between Spade and Brigid continues throughout the rest of the novel. Brigid continues to lie and play her part while Spade continues to ask questions and maintain his skepticism. The progression toward the truth that seemed simple at the beginning of the novel turns out to be an illusion: the debunking of a lie does not necessarily mean that the truth will take its place. The fact that the reader cannot know for sure when the characters are telling the truth and when they are not. Hammett's use of an objective style makes this impossible. The objective style is characterized by a third-person point of view that provides no insight into the characters' thoughts or motivations. He lacks omniscience. By keeping readers in the dark about what the characters are thinking, Hammett constructs a world where lies carry as much weight in the reader's eyes as facts. This power placed over lies is reflected in the characters; everyone in the novel seems to have an easier time lying than telling the truth. When the police ask him why he would lie if he has nothing to hide, Spade mutters, "Everyone has something to hide" (145). Later, when Brigid is finally forced to tell Spade the truth, she stammers, "I...I can't look you in the eye when I tell you this," "this" being the truth (210). The reader's inability to know when a character is lying, combined with the frequency of liescharacters, reinforces the illusion that readers are getting closer to the truth. As each lie is disproven, Hammett simultaneously preys on the reader's desire to move toward a solution while extending the suspense by introducing a new series of lies to be debunked. The objective style also extends suspense by delaying the action. Beyond keeping readers unaware of the characters' thoughts and motivations, Hammett's style slows down the story's progression through the use of short, declarative sentences. The Maltese Falcon is sometimes a frustratingly slow novel. After Spade learns that his partner is dead, Hammett painstakingly describes Spade's "thick fingers [making] a cigarette with delicate care" (11). When the Maltese falcon is finally discovered, Hammett slows the action again, describing Spade's process of unwrapping the bird, from "[cutting] the rope" to slowly "[pulling] aside the brown paper" (158). . The audience can see how the action is slowed down when Spade quickly recounts the events to the other characters. For example, the story that Brigid takes pages to tell—her false explanation of why she wants Spade to help her—is summarized by Spade for her partner in a few sentences. Spade also quickly tells Effie what happened to her in Gutman's office, taking only a paragraph to describe the "action" value of a chapter. By slowing down the progress of the story, Hammett paradoxically increases the excitement. The suspense continues as Hammett categorically refuses to accelerate the development of the plot and quickly find a solution. Although the novel's narrative style delays the truth, the plot seems to progress toward it. This progression toward the truth is the result of Spade's ruthless quest to find a solution. Although Spade lies as often as any other character in the novel, he uses these lies to seek the truth. Spade lies to Gutman about his knowledge of the Maltese Falcon's whereabouts, but learns valuable information about the falcon's history. He frequently lies to Cairo and Brigid about the interests he protects; we eventually learn that he doesn't actually care about any of them. His biggest lie comes from his “fall guy” speech. Here he lulls Cairo, Gutman and Brigid into believing that he is not interested in the truth and only wants to pin The Maltese Falcon's murders on someone convenient to him. “Let’s sort out the details,” he said (189). Here we see Spade constructing lies before the reader's eyes. In short, it seems that Spade is ultimately not interested in the truth. For a moment, it seems that the solution to the Maltese Falcon is strangely absent from the truth. However, the narrative desire is more than just the reader's desire to prolong the suspense while leading toward a solution; it is the reader's desire to find the truth in the solution. After Spade convinces Cairo, Gutman and Brigid to believe that he is not interested in the truth, he demands the truth from them. Spade is done listening to lies. In the last chapters, he calls each character. “It’s a lie,” he tells Brigid twice (207, 209). Here we see Spade representing the reader's narrative desire. Although Hammett has prolonged the suspense for much of the novel, in the final chapters we see Spade's unwavering search for a satisfying solution. After being left in the dark as to Spade's thoughts for most of the novel, we finally get a glimpse of his motivation as he questions Brigid. “When a man’s partner is killed, he’s supposed to do something,” he tells her (213). Although..