Chapters 1-5 study guide
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The story’s protagonist
A private detective
He looks like a “blond Satan.” he is a tall, thickly
built man (physically imposing), and he is in his
30s
He seems shady and more concerned about his
own well-being than others
He presents a rough exterior; unsympathetic to
others
He’s a womanizer who is having an affair with his
partner’s wife
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A lanky, sunburned girl with a boyish face
(almost childlike)
She is Spade’s trusted secretary
She appears kind and conscientious, and
worries over Spade
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A young woman with blue eyes, red, curly hair
and very attractive. She’s 22 years old
She lies about her identity (her name is actually
Brigid O’Shaughnessy)
She pretends she is innocent and in need of
help, but, in reality, she appears to be a
manipulator who uses her sexuality to get what
she wants
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A private investigator and Sam Spade’s
business partner
He’s of medium height, solidly built and in his
40s
He also appears to be a womanizer, although
he is married
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She is supposedly looking for her sister, who
ran off with a man named Floyd Thursby. She’s
hoping they can find her before her parents
realize she’s gone
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San Francisco
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Sam’s partner, Miles Archer
He was murdered - shot through the heart with
a Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver
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He appears unsympathetic and unmoved by
Miles’ death. For him, it’s business as usual
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Floyd Thursby
He was shot down in front of his hotel 35
minutes after Sam Spade left Miles’ murder
scene
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Two police officers: Tom Polhaus and
Lieutenant Dundy
They want to question Sam over the murder of
Floyd Thursby
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That they were having an affair
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She suspects Sam of having killed Miles
She naively believes that Sam wanted to get
Miles out of the picture so she and Sam could
be together
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He doesn’t appear to love her. He only seems
to have been using her sexually. Now he
doesn’t appear to want any part of her
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He doesn’t become emotionally involved with
them.
He uses them for his own sexual gratification
and treats them as inferiors
He doesn’t trust their motives or instincts
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That her name is actually Brigid
O’Shaughnessy and that she really wasn’t
looking for her missing sister
Also, she had known Floyd Thursby and that
they arrived in San Francisco together from
Hong Kong
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No
He constantly scowls in disbelief and reacts
with impatience at her stories and even tells
her that she “is dangerous”
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Brigid claims that Thursby shot Miles because
he found out Miles was tailing him
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He asks her how much money she has, then
takes almost all of it for his services
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Sam Spade’s attorney
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A small, dark-complexioned man with
Levantine features
He is very stylish in his attire, wears a perfume,
and acts in an effeminate way
He’s searching for a black figurine of a bird
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He knocks him unconscious when Cairo pulls a
gun on him. He then rifles through Cairo’s
belongings
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He’s come to hire Sam to help him find the
black statuette. He also has come to search
Sam’s office to see if he is, in fact, hiding it