Stressed the Need

       Thompson's pantheon of manipulative characters frequently extends into savage parodies of what had become the dominant character type under twentieth-century consumer capitalism. As historian Warren Susman has argued, in nineteenth century producer capitalist economy, most sources had stressed the necessity of developing a good character, with emphasis on the internal cultivation of a strong sense of morality. But in the twentieth century this ethic was gradually supplanted by an emphasis on personality, which stressed the need to fit in and get along.

excerpt from

Jim Thompson ; Noir and the Popular Front

David Cochran

Redwedgemagazine.com

2014

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