In Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, the detective is the epitome of both the male persona and the mythic hero; yet what lies beneath these constructed identities is the opposite of what readers perceive. Iceberg Slim’s Trick Baby follows a similar cyclical journey toward securing the hero’s booty (both a sense of masculinity and identity as a black man). Both protagonists, Sam Spade and Johnny O’Brien (or White Folks), are constantly reminded of the femme fatale as their source of castration anxiety; they operate on the fringes of society yet maintain a stringent moral code that thumbs its nose at the anarchy and post-modernism of the mid-twentieth century.
The term “dame” is linguistically linked to “danger” and “domination” (Nesbitt). Both White Folks and Spade refer to the femme fatales they are surrounded by as “dames.” In The Maltese Falcon, the “legendary falcon” (Hammett 199) symbolizes the unattainable desire that men experience through the mystery of women. Yet this desire remains intact is the quest for the maltese falcon fails; it is for this reason that Gutman’s desire is reawakened as he decides to pursue the prized bird in Constantinople (197). In this way the oedipal child–Freud’s controversial concept of a child’s feelings of desire for their opposite-sex parent and jealousy for their same-sex parent–is linked to sexual fantasies and the primal scene. Spade demonstrates a moral ambiguity towards the three femme fatales that raise questions about his true sexual nature.
Through the use of ambiguous bon mots such as “precious” and “angel,” Spade appears to overcompensate for a lacking sense of masculinity. Effie Perine, his secretary, is capable of luring Spade into any of her desires through her girl-ish mannerisms and appearance. Nevertheless, she is clever; her last name resembles “peregrine,” a North American bird that has highly-developed predatory skills (Nesbitt). Spade desires Iva Archer, the wife of his long-time partner, as long as she represents the castrating bitch. She is the forbidden fruit that Eve tempted Adam with; she is the prostitute who Spade feels he can dominate completely. Freud’s idea of male-object choice comes into play as Spade feels a Machiavellian cunning at cuckolding Miles by sexually penetrating his wife. Yet Spade brutally pushes Iva to the side once Miles is murdered as she becomes a dangerous and meddlesome component. Brigid O’Shaughnessy is a dangerous mix of the two extremes: she is both the castrating bitch and the mythical angel. Spade frequently uses the bon mot of “angel” to refer to Brigid; this reflects his desire appear to worship her as opposed to ravishing her. Nevertheless, his innermost desire appears to be the opposite.
White Folks frequently refers to his mother Phala’s angel face (Slim 39). He describes her as unnaturally beautiful, yet her horrific gang rape transforms her from a mythical angel to a castrating bitch in his eyes. Upon visiting her at a mental facility, Phala attempts to literally castrate White Folks after he gently kisses her on the mouth. She presents a threat to his growing sense of masculinity and self-righteousness he gains from taking advantage of people’s vices. Midge serves as his unattainable “play sister” who he both worships and reviles for her queerness. After witnessing Midge make love to Celeste, White Folks tempts a married woman on that he encounters on the street to try the same sexual positions that the lesbians used. He playfully guesses that her name is Angel, yet he desires her because she is the forbidden fruit that he should not taste.