Red Harvest

Throughout Red Harvest, the Op differentiates himself from the people of Personville through his adherence to a moral code. For the Op, the code exists somewhere between the rule of law, the regulations of his detective agency, and his morality. For the other characters, morality is little more than a passing thought as they become increasingly mired in violence and corruption. The Op may be violent, and he may break the law on occasion, but his actions always strive to uphold the importance of a moral code amid the town’s corruption.

Corruption is bad, he believes, so he has permission to break laws occasionally to combat corruption. The rules of the detective agency can be similarly ignored (albeit only temporarily) if the Op believes that he is working for the greater benefit of the agency, prioritizing the completion of the assignment over the Old Man’s requests for reports. While the Op may break the rules, he is constantly conscious of his moral code, particularly when he is in danger of breaking it. This adherence is what shapes his identity and what defines him as a man in this society. 

Other characters, like Noonan, are foils to the Op by recognizing no moral code at all.