Don't trust the Siren's Song: Brigid O'Shaughnessy

When The Maltese Falcon opens, Ms. Wonderly is seeking help from Spade & Archer. Later, Ms. Leblanc moves into a new hotel because hers was broken into, and then Brigid O'Shaughnessy, on several occasions, pleads with Sam Spade to help her. All of these names apply to the same character, who, once she’s known as Brigid, remains Brigid. She uses these aliases to move around and deceive people, so she can, as needs be, appear scared and flighty, weak, and in need of help. These pleas are her siren's song.

In Greek mythology, the sirens were bird-like creatures who would sing their songs to lure sailors to their island, where the sirens would eat them. The myths tell us nothing of the nature of their song, but It's easy to imagine the siren song as sensual, alluring, and seductive. After all, sailors would hurl themselves from their boats despite the bleached skulls on the shore. Odysseus, in the Odyssey, plugged his men's ears with wax and had himself lashed to the mast as they went by so the men would not be tempted but still hear. He wanted to hear and survive what could be so alluring and dangerous.

Using the myth of the sirens, Margaret Atwood offers an interesting interpretation In her poem “Siren Song”. Atwood presents the siren song as a plea for help. It isn't about the seductress who entices, but the seemingly innocent who requests. After all, the sirens themselves aren't interested in sex: they're looking for their next meal. They need to appeal to the altruistic as well as the greedy. Therefore, according to Atwood, the siren's song is a cry for help. This will get the sexually inclined on the siren's island because of their hope for a reward, and the more altruistic will go out of their own willingness. Atwood ends her poem with “Alas/it is a boring song/but it works every time.

But does it work every time?

Presumably, Brigid used the same ploy on Floyd Thursby. We don't know much about their relationship other than it revolved around the falcon, mistrust, and ended with Thursby's death. Thursby was a dangerous, violent man, and so are Gutman’s men, but she survives and thrives in their midst. She survives because she doesn't overtly rely on violence, but rather on her allure.

Atwood's interpretation of the siren song contains the lines, “Only you, only you can,/you are unique.” The siren's goal is to lure in someone unsuspecting, to reassure them that they have the means to help her with her situation. Brigid uses the same ploy on Spade, but come the end of the novel, he refers to Thursby as his “predecessor” (224), showing he recognizes Brigid's scheme. Spade knows that, to her, he isn't unique: he's merely a means to an end. Knowing this, Spade never trusts her and never buys her act or her long-winded pleas. He doubts her, grows tired of her, and even searches her room and has his secretary spy on her.

Sam Spade has an interesting reaction to Brigid’s siren song. Knowing what happened to Thursby, and aiming to solve the case without ending up dead, he plays around with Brigid and her song. He doesn’t plug his ears like Odysseus’ men, nor does he listen and leave as Odysseus himself did. Miles Archer, as previously discussed, heard her song (saw the siren) and went after her eagerly. Spade, in his cynicism, doesn’t trust the siren’s song. Instead, he questions it, peels it back, and examines the words, the singer, and their purpose. Perhaps he was able to do this because he was faced by only one siren, and he saw what happened to Miles because he listened to and chased after the siren’s song.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Works Cited

Hammett, Dashiell. The Maltese Falcon. New York: Vintage Books, 1972. Print. 

Atwood, Margaret. "Siren Song." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d.. Web. 8 Aug 2016. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/detail/32778>