Reaction Paper #2: Making a claim about The Maltese Falcon
Brigid O’Shaughessy is a mysterious actress on the stage of Sam Spade. As such, she is apt at disguising herself and her intentions. When the reader is first introduced to her as Ms. Wonderly, she was a woman desperately in search of her sister in fear of her safety being compromised. As we later find out, this was all a fluke in an attempt to get Spade to help her in another situation. However, upon closer examination in the way that O’Shaughessy has requested this deed, it foreshadows the mysterious and manipulative nature of her character.
Ms. Wonderly walks into Spade’s office asking for someone to be tailed for the sake of her sister. However, she does not get straight to the point. Instead, she says that because their mother and father are about to return home, she hopes that her sister will be there, all the while referring to her sister simply as “her.” This does not accurately describe the situation a sister would be in if her dear sibling was in danger. We then turn to the fact that she showed no signs of close bond with this said “sister” that she had. However, from her dialogue, we can gather that Ms. Wonderly simply wants the sister to be within her sight.
Fast forward to the two murders that take place and again we see this shadowy and manipulative side of her as she plays the pity card against Spade but ultimately fails. On page 35 when Spade asks for more information on the situation, O’Shaughessy breaks down and tries to get Spade to help her once more. She starts off with “ I haven’t live a good life” and immediately bombards Spade with emotional rhetorical questions: “You know that I’m not all bad, don’t you? You can see that, can’t you? Then can’t you trust me a little? Oh, I’m so alone and afraid, and I’ve got nobody to help me if you won’t help me.” This then leads into forceful request laced with pity: “Help me because I need help so badly, and because if you don’t where will I find anyone who can, no matter how willing? Help me… Be generous, Mr. Spade. You can help me. Help me.” The constant reinforcement of her plead only loses its effect and gains in pressure as a way to corner Spade into helping O’Shaughnessy despite her unwillingness to spill the beans.
I really like the idea of Brigid being “a mysterious actress on the stage of Sam Spade.” I completely agree with this thought. She puts on all these different “disguises” (not just clothes but personas- Ms. Wonderly). She cannot/doesn’t know how to be her own person, for example, when she gets caught (quote posted). The loss of protection of her disguise leaves her frazzled.