The Maltese Falcon · Chapter
XVII: Saturday Night explained
Spade secures the falcon at a parcel room, then visits the Alexandria Hotel where he finds Rhea Gutman drugged.
What happens
Spade secures the falcon at a parcel room, then visits the Alexandria Hotel where he finds Rhea Gutman drugged. He revives her and learns she is Gutman's daughter. Later, Brigid O'Shaughnessy meets him at his apartment, but they are ambushed by Gutman, Wilmer, and Cairo. Spade also searches an empty house and checks in with Effie Perine.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Duplicity
Spade's careful handling of the falcon and the ambush at his apartment underscore layers of deceit.
Betrayal and Loyalty
Brigid's desperate arrival and the ambush by Gutman's crew test loyalties.
Urban Alienation
The empty house and late-night city settings evoke isolation and danger.
Characters to notice
- Sam Spade
Spade checks the falcon, revives Rhea Gutman, and is ambushed at his apartment.
- Brigid O'Shaughnessy
Brigid meets Spade at his apartment, distraught, and they are ambushed.
- Casper Gutman
Gutman ambushes Spade and Brigid at Spade's apartment.
- Joel Cairo
Cairo ambushes Spade and Brigid at Spade's apartment.
- Wilmer Cook
Wilmer ambushes Spade and Brigid at Spade's apartment.
- Effie Perine
Effie updates Spade on police questioning and the falcon's safety.
Key passages
“Carrying the parcel lightly under his arm, walking briskly, with only the ceaseless shifting of his eyes to denote wariness, Spade went...”
Spade moves quickly and warily through the city, carrying the falcon.
Spade's cautious demeanor highlights the high stakes.
“He checked the bird at the Parcel Room there, put the check into a stamped envelope, wrote 'M. F. Holland' and a San Francisco Post Office box-number on the envelope, sealed it, and dropped it into a mailbox.”
Spade secures the falcon by checking it and mailing the claim check to a pseudonym.
Spade's methodical actions show his strategic planning.
“Her face was chalk-white and eyeless, his sullen, with eyes hardened to watch everywhere at once.”
Rhea Gutman is pale and disoriented while Spade remains alert and grim.
Contrast between vulnerability and vigilance.
“Just inside the living-room door fat Gutman stood smiling benevolently at them. The boy Wilmer came out of the kitchen behind them. Black pistols were gigantic in his small hands. Cairo came from the bathroom. He too had a pistol.”
Gutman, Wilmer, and Cairo ambush Spade and Brigid with guns drawn.
The ambush reveals the coordinated threat against Spade.