Color Blue in The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler referred to Philip Marlowe as his “white knight in a trench coat.” Marlowe is seen as a noble and honorable detective, and his honorary knighthood is celebrated by many critics. This is how Chandler introduces Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep:
[,,,] I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark blue clocks on them. […]
Blue is a color of trust, honor, and creativity. A contemporary example of this connotation is IBM, Big Blue. Blue is also considered a sign of purity as can be seen from the blue surgical masks and gowns. Many detergents are also blue in color. During the middle ages, Lapis Lazuli, the blue stone was considered precious. All these positive connotations of blue indicate that Chandler intended his favorite gumshoe to be a pure and noble character. However, there are other, darker connotations of the blue: the term blue language refers to profanity, blue mood refers to sadness. It is not a coincidence that the negative character Geiger carries a blue notebook. The slacks that Carmen is wearing when she is first introduced are also blue.
This initial juxtaposition of blue with opposing connotations is meaningful. Philip Marlowe never makes a judgement about the nature of good and evil, and neither does Chandler in his authorial voice. In the end, Marlowe takes law into his own hands and decides to cover up Regan’s murder at the hands of Carmen. The reasons for his actions are somewhat noble yet ambiguous. He is concerned about General’s health and would prefer to spare the old man from any further grief. He would like Carmen to receive mental health care rather than have her molder in a prison cell. One is tempted to bestow the knighthood on him for his chivalry.
However, it should also be noted that Marlowe is unable to extricate Mona Mars from the dangerous life that she is leading. He leaves her in the deadly hands of Eddie Mars and his thugs. Does this fact leave a chink in Marlowe’s knightly armor? Perhaps, but one could, of course, argue that Mona is not a damsel in distress. She is fiercely loyal to Eddie, and in some sense, she is the only character who is as dispassionate as Marlowe himself is. Is it any wonder that the novel ends with Marlowe’s thoughts about Silver-Wig? Mona’s loyalty to Eddie is equivalent to Marlowe’s loyalty to General and Carmen. Both Mona and Philip know their loyalty is perhaps misplaced, however it is the choice each has made, knowing fully well that the world is a continuum of good and evil and choosing sides, or even thinking about them is futile. Perhaps this is what Chandler had in mind when he sprinkled many blue symbols in the novel.
