Phillip Marlowe

A tough-talking private detective with a soft heart. The novel's main protagonist, Phillip Marlowe is a scrappy character who does not know when to give up. He is happily unmarried; he lives alone, he works alone. Marlowe enjoys being a detective because he prefers to be in charge of himself. In fact, Phillip Marlowe spends a great deal of time by himself. He does, however, have an eye for beauty and danger. Women are not shy about expressing their attraction for him. He is non-committal with the women in Farewell, My Lovely, although he does manage to have close dealings with two of them and a one-sided fascination for a woman who is supposedly deceased.

Marlowe exemplifies the bachelor; he is not above plying women with liquor to get information and he is in no hurry to form any long-term attachments. He has a sarcastic sense of...