THE MALTESE FALCON AS SOCIAL COMMENT: AN INTERROGATION OF THE URBAN JUNGLE
ABSTRACT. This work seeks to contextualise Dashiell Hammet’s 1931 noir masterpiece The Maltese Falcon, effectively setting it against other detective fiction of the era. It then goes on to analyse the urban landscapes employed in the novel and Hammett’ insistence on making the novel as realistic as possible, especially when compared to the typical English ‘tea and crumpets’ type detective story so common at the time.