Classics Without All the Class discussion

Is the falcon a symbol? If so, what does it symbolize? Does the falcon have a different meaning for different characters?

For me, the falcon was a symbol of greed/desire. It is valuable in many ways - it's one of a kind, worth lots of money, has a richly secretive and mysterious history and it's beautiful. What more could you want from a physical object in 1929?

The falcon symbolizes what to attain, hence, like Nathan points out, greed/desire, but yet more in that those who have the falcon really don't have it and must acquire it. I'm simply thinking/typing out loud with no direction on this one as the falcon itself perplexes me: who has it, why, and who is supposed to have it. Seriously, does the falcon even exist as a thing, being that it is merely in reference that it 'exists.' Who in the play has seen it BTW?

Perhaps the falcon stands for the plight of humankind. We desire something. Then we get it but it fails to satisfy. That's probably way too philosophical but what the heck.

In the movie, which I have now watched, one of the detectives asks Spade / Bogart what's this (referring to the falcon), Spade / Bogart replies 'the stuff that dreams are made of'. I don't remember seeing this line in the novel (and maybe I missed it) but hearing this one line explained the whole story to me. The stuff that dreams are made of, thinking about all the different characters and what they were trying to strive for, yeah, I can see that.

(BTW, it was also interesting to see how the movie resembled the novel closely, not just in plot but also dialogue.)