Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,5, University of Potsdam (Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: PS: „On Thinking about Hell“: Los Angeles in Fact and Fiction, language: English, abstract: American hard-boiled school, “noir” fiction Language is an important medium for writers and this work will exemplary survey the use of language as a violent medium in the novel The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. Therefore the private eye Philip Marlowe, main character of the story, will be analysed. In the conclusion the question whether a private eye like Marlowe is more realistic than a traditional private eye like Sherlock Holmes will be considered.