Dad gave me this as a school project- I need to write a page on the protagonist, the antagonist, and the supporting character of the book. The book is a good read, and I recommend it for avid readers and people who like action books.
Mike Hammer is the
protagonist of the story. He was once a WWII Veteran, and he fought against the
Japanese. Now he is a private investigator. Below I have listed some of his
traits (that I see) and given examples of why.
He is definitely rough.
I say this because in cases, if there are people out to kill him, when they try
he often kills them instead of turning them over to the police. He also has a
tendency to get rough with people if they do not give him the information that
he wants/needs. A good example is the instance where he goes to a locker room
looking for evidence. When he is denied access, he beats up the guy behind the
desk and tells him to “be nice next time”. He then walks into the room. I
thought there wasn’t any reason for this- I mean, just tell him you are a
private investigator! No need to beat the crap out of him!
At the same time, I
also think he is compassionate- he takes care of his love interest and
secretary, Velda. On her birthday, he gives her a string of genuine pearls, and
in return she loves him back- staying at his side when he is in the hospital
and helping him with his case. Velda is engaged to him. A good example of his
compassionate side is shown in the middle of the book- where he tells his
thoughts and how he feels about Velda, saying that she is his everything. So he
does have a soft side- the only thing he loves more than Velda is making sure
that justice is served and his will to kill.
The only other thing I
could call him is a terminator- he knows his job and he gets it done, but not
always in the way that abides by law. He is notorious for breaking the law while
solving his cases. He tries to have a sense of humor in his killing sometimes-
for example, when he kills two hired men, he props their dead bodies up against
a dead end sign and leaves them there- a sick, twisted sense of humor. He is
also known to use bribery to get his job done- such as bribing the car mechanic
to get a few bombs out of a car and also attempting to bribe the guy at the
locker room- but to no avail.
You had asked me if I
would want him as a friend- no, I probably wouldn’t. I might hire him as a
bodyguard, but that’s about it. Just from reading, he doesn’t seem to be the
type I would hang out with. I don’t like people who kill- even if it is for a
good reason. Maybe if it was to save me, but other than that, I will stick to
normal people, thank you.
Maddie
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