How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Spade asked: "What's your idea of a fair bargain?"
Gutman held his glass up to the light, looked affectionately at it, took another long drink, and said: "I have two proposals to make, sir, and either is fair. Take your choice. I will give you twenty-five thousand dollars when you deliver the falcon to me, and another twenty-five thousand as soon as I get to New York; or I will give you one quarter—twenty-five per cent—of what I realize on the falcon. There you are sir: an almost immediate fifty thousand dollars or a vastly greater sum within, say, a couple of months." (13.59)
Gutman is loaded. With money, that is. He's so desperate to get the falcon in his hands that he just offered Spade fifty grand for the statuette. Will this be enough money to satisfy Spade? Is Spade trying to find the falcon to get money from Gutman, or to help Brigid out, or to keep the police off his back?
Quote #8
Spade laughed. He put a hand down on the bird. His wide-spread fingers had ownership in their curving. He put his other arm around Effie Perine and crushed her body against his. "We've got the damned thing, angel," he said. (16.80)
Spade is pleased as punch in this scene. We're kind of picturing Spade whispering to himself, "Mine… all mine!" Hey, we would be too if we were holding a priceless gem in our hands. Notice how the narrator describes Spade's fingers as expressing "ownership" over the falcon. Does Spade agree with Gutman that the bird belongs to whoever is in possession of it at a given time? Is Spade driven by the same greed as Gutman to possess the black bird?
Quote #9
The contents of the envelope were thousand-dollar bills, smooth and stiff and new. Spade took them out and counted them. There were ten of them. Spade looked up smiling. He said mildly: "We were talking about more money than this."
"Yes, sir, we were," Gutman agreed, "but we were talking then. This is actual money, genuine coin of the realm, sir. With a dollar of this you can buy more than ten dollars of talk." (18.20)
Gutman has changed his tune here and only offers Spade ten grand (instead of the original fifty) for the bird. Does Spade insist that Gutman uphold his original bargain because he's being greedy or because he doesn't want Gutman to go back on his offer?