The Old Dick Themes

L. A. Morse
This Study Guide consists of approximately 6 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Old Dick.

The Old Dick Themes

L. A. Morse
This Study Guide consists of approximately 6 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Old Dick.
This section contains 315 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy The Old Dick Short Guide

The Old Dick Summary & Study Guide Description

The Old Dick Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:

This detailed literature summary also contains Literary Precedents on The Old Dick by L. A. Morse.

Preview of The Old Dick Summary:

The Old Dick includes themes common to detective fiction, such as the value of the private eye's independence and the unmitigated villainy of his major antagonists, but much of the novel emphasizes what Mark Twain has called "the wanton insult of old age." Throughout the novel one encounters characters who are intelligent, perceptive, competent, and skilled, but whose age renders them insignificant in society's view. Spanner resolves an incredibly difficult case, at one point tracing hundreds of "partial license plates" to discover one vehicle, with the assistance of senior citizens. One reason they succeed is that they are virtually invisible to those around them. Their age has canceled their humanity.

A more general theme is the tendency of many to place more emphasis on a person's appearance than on individual worth. At various points in the novel, in addition to the indifference shown to the elderly, Spanner comments...

This section contains 315 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy The Old Dick Short Guide
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Gale
The Old Dick from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.