The Maltese Falcon

Samuel Dashiell Hammett (May 27, 1894-January 10, 1961) was a detective-fiction writer, political activist, and screenwriter. He grew up in Philadelphia and Baltimore and left school at the age of 13. He worked several jobs before joining the Pinkerton National Detective agency, where he served as an operative from 1915 to 1922. Here, he learned the ins and outs of detective work before becoming disillusioned by the agency’s role in strike breaking. Hammett drew on his experiences as a detective to inform his writing and stated that he took most of his characters from real life. The influence can also be felt through the authentic tone and dialogue of his novels. Hammett also claimed that Sam Spade is modeled after the detectives he worked with, who were less erudite than Sherlock Holmes and much more shifty, hard, and self-interested.

Hammett also spent much of his life devoted to left-wing activism and joined the Communist Party in 1937. These views explain the social commentary in his works and open the possibility of applying a Marxist lens to the novel. While there is no overt class struggle in The Maltese Falcon, wealth is treated with a large degree of contempt.