Inaminate Objects and Ideas in A Wild Sheep Chase and The Long Goodbye

The writing style of both of the novels we read are distinct in the way that their narrators see the world, or at least how the authors narrate their surroundings. We get the sense that both Marlowe and Boku have a wide lens of how different aspects of life are intertwined to create the present. They exist to set things right, or fix problems that other people have created, not to help themselves but to set things right in the world (Boku going on his Wild Sheep Chase on the request of the boss's secretary and Marlowe solving crimes). 

One of the reasons I point this out is due to the prevalence of inanimate objects having humanistic traits or feelings in both of the novels. This presents the idea that these other objects could have senses, which makes the world of the characters seem less centered on strictly humans. In the most recent section of the Wild Sheep Chase we read, there are two movements where this occurs. Firstly when Boku and the caretaker are driving to the house, when Murakami writes:

"The valley was vast, and the view was spectacular. But without a hint of warmth. The rock face was sheer, stripped of every bit of life. You could smell its menacing breath" (271). 

Also when Boku is in the house, Murakami writes:

"The big room had twin beds and a dresser. The beds were stripped down to their frames. Time was dead in the air" (282)

Both time and the valley are described as having animate features, which creates a very eery (in this case) and distinct mood in the story. 

In Chandler, we discussed in class how the telephone becomes an animate object. He also describes a cigarette like this when Chandler says:

"I cut it off and smoked a long cool tightly packed cigarette. It was kind to my throat." (99)

Marlowe also describes the scenery as animate when he is driving Coldwater Canyon:

 "When we topped the rise and started to wind down towards the San Fernando Valley it was breathless and blazing." (296)

These examples are clearly able to create a very unique narration method that is present in both of the novels.  

-Audrey Hager