The Big Climactic Point Choice
Every week I look at a story by breaking down a specific storytelling device it uses effectively.
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Have you noticed a theme of choice in your favorite stories?
The Climax has finally arrived, the big showdown is in motion, and the protagonist suddenly finds himself facing a near-impossible choice.
Sound familiar?
To demonstrate this point, I’m going to be referring to a movie I recently watched. So if you haven’t seen it, beware. Spoilers ahead.
The good news is this movie came out 80 years ago. So you’ve likely had plenty of time.
Let’s talk about…The Maltese Falcon.
This movie is classic Bogey at his finest. Strong and confident. Stoic. Humphrey Bogart, or Sam Spade as he goes in the film, has it figured out.
He runs a successful detective agency. He’s having an affair with his partner’s wife. He doesn’t mess with silly things like love.
Until Brigid O’Shaughnessy walks into his life. What a dame. Mysterious, secretive, and sharp.
For reference, I’ve included a quick summary of what happens.
Even if you haven’t seen the movie, this will give you enough information to solidly grasp the idea of the big Climactic Point choice, and effectively see how The Maltese Falcon accomplishes this storytelling technique so masterfully.
Brigid shows up at Spade’s detective agency asking him to track down her sister.
Spade puts his partner on the job.
That night, while tailing the man Brigid claims is holding her sister, Spade’s partner is shot and killed.
Shortly after, the man holding Brigid’s sister is also shot and killed.
Spade is a suspect in the murders.
Spade tracks down Brigid (who has checked out of her hotel in town) and confronts her, revealing he never believed her story, but he was hired to do a job so he didn’t bother asking questions.
Spade says he needs to know more as it appears both he and Brigid are in trouble. (Brigid is hiding from someone and Spade is suspected of murder.)
Later, a man—Cairo—shows up at Spade’s agency and pulls a gun on him, offering him $5,000 for “the bird.”
Afterward, Spade is followed by a mysterious “kid.”
Spade confronts Brigid yet again, telling her about his encounters. She seems frightened of the unnamed kid tailing him.
At her request, Spade sets up a meeting between Cairo and Brigid. There, he learns about the “fat man.”
The police show up at Spade’s apartment during the meeting. The three of them come up with a lie to coerce the police to leave.
Spade is summoned by the “fat man,” whose name we learn is Gutman.
Gutman asks Spade for the falcon. He tells him this is a priceless artifact he has been tracking for 17 years. He also reveals that Brigid and the man whom she hired Spade to follow ran off with it.
Spade confronts Brigid about the falcon. She doesn’t give any information away.
When Spade returns to make a deal, Gutman drugs him. Gutman, Cairo, and “the kid” (Wilmer) leave to track down the falcon.
Spade wakes up and returns to his agency. While there, a man shows up with a bundle. He barely makes it through the door before falling down dead.
The bundle contains the priceless falcon. Spade receives a call from Brigid who appears to be frightened for her life.
Spade hides the falcon and goes to find Brigid. She is not there, so he returns home where Brigid is waiting. Gutman and the others arrive shortly after.
There, they make a deal. In return for delivering the falcon, Spade will receive a handsome sum as well as a “fall guy” for the murders of Spade’s partner and Brigid’s partner (both of these murders we learn were committed by Wilmer). Gutman agrees to give up Wilmer as the fall guy.
Spade produces the falcon, only to have Gutman discover it is a fake. Gutman and the others leave.
Spade calls the police and reports Gutman and the others. He informs the police that they are the criminals responsible for the recent deaths.
Alone with Brigid, Spade confronts her one more time. He says he knows that she is the one who killed his partner.
The Choice
We’ve reached the Climax. Spade has a choice to make. Importantly, he has fallen in love with Brigid, and she claims to love him in return. Is that worth hiding her crime and letting justice for his partner slip through his fingers?
First, let’s talk a little more about the choice.
Why do stories include a choice?
Put simply, one of the main reasons to include a difficult choice is to demonstrate the completion of the protagonist’s Character Arc.
The Character Arc is the heart of the story. It’s what makes a story satisfying, relatable, and timeless.
Stories are about people.
How they interact with others, with themselves, and with the world around them. A great Character Arc shows humanistic flaws. The glaring blind spots present at the beginning of their story.
For Sam Spade, his biggest flaw was his lack of loyalty.
Spade began the movie by showing little regard for the people around him. Most significantly, his partner. This was most notably demonstrated in Spade’s affair with his partner’s wife. Something he engaged in despite the fact that he did not love her.
By the end of Sam’s story, our greatest need/desire as a viewer is to see that Sam has grown as a person.
This matters more than anything else in your story. Your character’s growth. Their lessons, failures, losses all need to amount to something.
It gives viewers/readers a sense of satisfaction. It gives us hope. When we spend time investing in a story, we become attached to the characters, especially to the protagonist. We want to know that despite everything they go through, they have learned.
Think about this:
When someone does wrong by you, thoughts of anger or revenge may cross your mind. But the most satisfying gift you could receive is remorse. You want to know that the person who wronged you feels sorry for what they’ve done. That they’ve grown and changed as a result of the experience.
But remorse for past wrongs and failures can only be achieved through personal growth.
Spade shows his remorse in his choice.
In The Maltese Falcon, Spade is faced with a choice.
He is alone with Brigid. The police have custody of Gutman, Cairo, and Wilmer. Though acting on orders from Gutman, Wilmer is responsible for the deaths of Brigid’s partner-in-crime, as well as the man who showed up at Spade’s detective agency with the falcon.
It would be easy for Spade to also claim that Gutman, Cairo, and Wilmer are responsible for his partner’s death. But it’s not the truth. It’s not what his partner deserves.
His partner deserves loyalty. It’s time for Spade to show his growth and finally demonstrate the loyalty he has been missing in his life.
Brigid asks Spade to hide her guilt. She loves him and he loves her. They could be together. She pleads for this outcome.
Does Spade choose love or loyalty?
Because Spade has grown as a character, because he has completed a positive Character Arc, he now sees the importance of loyalty.
Loyalty to himself as a detective, loyalty to the police doing their jobs, loyalty to the system trying to put guilty parties behind bars. And most of all, loyalty to his partner. A man Spade casually offended throughout their relationship through Spade’s affair with his wife.
Spade chooses loyalty. This demonstrates the completion of his arc and gives the viewer a deep sense of satisfaction. It’s what we wanted him to do.
Think about this with your own story. How could your protagonist be faced with an impossible choice? How can that choice demonstrate their growth through the course of the story? How can it be a culmination of all of their failures? Their lessons? Their flaws? How can it feel the gap in their character? Turn their greatest weakness into a strength?
How can it give the reader a sense of satisfaction, connection, and understanding?
Answer this, and you are on track for a deeply relatable story.
The fastest way to write a strong story is with an effective outline that plots your novel’s beating heart.
In Outline Your Novel, you’ll learn exactly what these beats are, why they matter, and how to outline them effectively to make your story sing.
