[In the many critical analyses of The Maltese Falcon] one structural device … has received little if any attention—the use of pairings. Through the introduction of traditional pairings (lovers, business partners, etc.) Hammett sets up the appearance of order. As the novel progresses, however, the order is revealed to be illusory, a facade masking a world in which no one can be trusted, a world in which emotion and greed rule, a world, in short, of disorder.

The first pairing presented in the novel is also the title of the first chapter, "Spade and Archer."… However, we soon learn that Spade is having an affair with Archer's wife and that he really doesn't think very highly of his partner.

The relationship between Spade and Archer's wife, Iva, is also at first presented to the reader as one of trust and love. However, as the novel progresses we soon...