The Tarot of Philip Marlowe: Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye as an Esoteric Roman Á Clef

Abstract

Raymond Chandler was one of many authors in an extensive esoteric literary network. His detective novels take up the esoteric realism of the emblematic novel that was originated by Carl Van Vechten. This article examines The Long Goodbye (first published in 1953) to determine how and why these complex double-voiced texts were authored. The Long Goodbye is a roman à clef and a covertly satirical exposé of the Fourth Way esoteric school in America. In order to read at the hidden level of the novel, it is required that the reader begin with the more accessible phonetic clues and proceed through them to the more demanding levels of the hidden text. The article breaks down the various levels of coded information in Chandler’s novel and reveals the identities of the actual people that he brought into his narrative. The article relates various characters to Tarot cards. Philip Marlowe is a reflection of Chandler’s interest in Gurdjieff’s scale of humanity.