The Big Sleep: Chapter 21 Summary & Analysis

Marlowe’s wealthy client General Sternwood knows how deals are made behind closed doors, and can read through the papers’ version of events to see that Marlowe has concluded the case. With his check comes the end of Marlowe’s official services for Sternwood, meaning the detective no longer needs to serve the old man’s interests.

Marlowe, now a free agent, cannot stop thinking about his recent case, which is transforming into a different one. Although Marlowe tells himself he believes the versions of events he has heard, his innate skepticism means he cannot stop turning the matter over in his own mind. 

The city’s elite know and assist one another, while an average boy who got out of his depth in a complex criminal world will be spending the rest of his life in prison, a life that might be cut short by execution. Carol’s potential execution would involve poisoning, reflecting the toxic environment that led him to such an end.

The private detective cannot let the matter lie, unhappy with hearing only other people’s opinions. He wants to close the case completely, to his own standard. 

Marlowe steps into the venue for Mars’s illegal gambling racket, again an establishment barely hidden in plain sight. Mars receives Marlowe warmly, as the latter has gained Mars’s trust by keeping the gangster out of his report to the police. Yet Marlowe remains distant, unwilling to form alliances.

In his typical style, Marlowe maintains his indirect manner during the exchange, as his guard is still up. Eddie admits to buying police loyalty, with inside informants keeping him up to date. His connections represent how wealthy criminals have the resources, and therefore the connections, to protect themselves. In turn, this demonstrates the police’s negligence, and outright corruption.

Mars has an informant even within the Missing Persons Bureau, a niche area, meaning his network is wide, making him yet more secure in his social standing. It is unsurprising then, that Eddie is not a suspect in Rusty’s disappearance, though Marlowe also discounts this theory.

Although warming to each other, both men are still on the defense. They both still want information from each other, and don’t want to divulge too many of their own secrets.

Although it is not Marlowe’s direct duty, he wants to ensure he has covered all the aspects of his case, as he knows there are always more layers behind criminal activity than what meets the eye.

Mars intends to compliment Marlowe’s abilities, but his comment classes the detective as a hired underling rather than an active player in the wider game of life itself. It is Sternwood’s interests that Marlowe focuses on, rather than his own, because Sternwood pays him.

Marlowe does not seem the type to have many friends, and his agreement with Mars is no doubt part manners, part cynical attempt to stay on the right side of this high-level racketeer, who has bought out police captains. 

Marlowe’s mysterious tailer remains an unknown quantity, and Mars’s genuine surprise in turn worries Marlowe.