Devil in a Blue Dress
Walter Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress is a classic noir detective story set in 1940s LA (the height of the genre)...but there's a twist: the amateur detective is a black man. You might not have ever thought about the fact that detective stories of this type tend to have few characters of colour, if any, and they certainly don't tend to fill the role of detective. For the classic novels, which were actually written in the '40s, this is not surprising as racism was still quite strong in America (and other places) at that time.
This is a really smart move on Mosley's part because it works well with certain elements of the genre, while creating a poignant commentary on both the genre and the era when things don't match, and even when they do.
Easy Rawlins, our detective, like so many of the others is a World War II veteran struggling to find work. This is a common theme in works of fiction written after each of the World Wars because women were having to fill jobs when the men went away to war, but in the end this meant twice as many people looking for work and fewer opportunities once the military production shut down. But this problem is enhanced by the fact that many people don't want to hire African-Americans, in spite of the fact that they were given more equal opportunities and treatment on the battlefield.
One of the defining features of the noir genre is that the detective, not being a cop himself, tends to operate outside of the law. Their moral compass isn't so clear. Check. They don't cooperate with the police. Check. The police might even try to stop them from taking on the case. Check. But in most cases, the police are not so set on trying to take out the detective. In Easy's case, this has nothing to do with his investigation and everything to do with his race. He is only given the case because he has the ability to move in circles that whites cannot, yet this association only further incriminates him in the eyes of the cops. This highlights the police culture of racism and brutality that, honestly, is almost as true today as it was in the '40s. (At this point I feel that it is worth pointing out that the book was actually written in 1990, and fictional work generally uses these themes and messages -- whether intentional or not -- to comment on current issues and ideas.)
Also, like the classic detective novels, Easy is thrown off the path by the notorious femme fatale; in this book, however, there are two. And they are used, to a degree, to highlight racial differences. It is more dangerous for Easy to cross the racial barrier. But they also prove that appearance is deceptive, both in terms of beauty and the colour of one's skin. Over and over, the real message of this novel is that race is not an indicator of a person's worth or character.
Walter Mosley also uses this story to highlight the oft-ignored African-American culture in LA in the 1940s by using Easy as the narrator and having the case take him within the underground clubs and the run-down neighbourhoods. From this vantage point, what we do see about the white upper-class culture is disturbing, twisted, shallow, and cruel. But Easy's own associates are far from model citizens. One thing I will say about this is that the use of slang and phonetically written accents is overwhelming. I have heard it said that writing things as they are heard instead of as they should be written can make the book slow, and it does. At the same time, I understand that Mosley doesn't want his readers to forget who these characters are and where they come from.
This story will take you for a loop, and show you the worst of humanity at times. Nonetheless, I see why this has become a classic detective novel in its own right.
This is a really smart move on Mosley's part because it works well with certain elements of the genre, while creating a poignant commentary on both the genre and the era when things don't match, and even when they do.
Easy Rawlins, our detective, like so many of the others is a World War II veteran struggling to find work. This is a common theme in works of fiction written after each of the World Wars because women were having to fill jobs when the men went away to war, but in the end this meant twice as many people looking for work and fewer opportunities once the military production shut down. But this problem is enhanced by the fact that many people don't want to hire African-Americans, in spite of the fact that they were given more equal opportunities and treatment on the battlefield.
One of the defining features of the noir genre is that the detective, not being a cop himself, tends to operate outside of the law. Their moral compass isn't so clear. Check. They don't cooperate with the police. Check. The police might even try to stop them from taking on the case. Check. But in most cases, the police are not so set on trying to take out the detective. In Easy's case, this has nothing to do with his investigation and everything to do with his race. He is only given the case because he has the ability to move in circles that whites cannot, yet this association only further incriminates him in the eyes of the cops. This highlights the police culture of racism and brutality that, honestly, is almost as true today as it was in the '40s. (At this point I feel that it is worth pointing out that the book was actually written in 1990, and fictional work generally uses these themes and messages -- whether intentional or not -- to comment on current issues and ideas.)
Also, like the classic detective novels, Easy is thrown off the path by the notorious femme fatale; in this book, however, there are two. And they are used, to a degree, to highlight racial differences. It is more dangerous for Easy to cross the racial barrier. But they also prove that appearance is deceptive, both in terms of beauty and the colour of one's skin. Over and over, the real message of this novel is that race is not an indicator of a person's worth or character.
Walter Mosley also uses this story to highlight the oft-ignored African-American culture in LA in the 1940s by using Easy as the narrator and having the case take him within the underground clubs and the run-down neighbourhoods. From this vantage point, what we do see about the white upper-class culture is disturbing, twisted, shallow, and cruel. But Easy's own associates are far from model citizens. One thing I will say about this is that the use of slang and phonetically written accents is overwhelming. I have heard it said that writing things as they are heard instead of as they should be written can make the book slow, and it does. At the same time, I understand that Mosley doesn't want his readers to forget who these characters are and where they come from.
This story will take you for a loop, and show you the worst of humanity at times. Nonetheless, I see why this has become a classic detective novel in its own right.
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