As i read Double Indemnity by James M. Cain i saw various of quotes and definitions that related this book to be film Noir. there were many clues that caught my attention on how Cain show the novel elements of film Noir the protagonist seem to be a older man that is very mature he end up getting himself into trouble leading him to be between legal and criminal behavior "You are going to do it and i will help you." (17) in this quote the protagonist character Mr. Huff is going to help one of the females which in film Noir there are two types as in this novel he is falling for the femme fatale she is gorgeous , double- crossing, manipulative and most of all i think a predatory. Mrs. Nirdlinger knew how to get Mr. Huff into her trap and she did it well " I liked you the very first minute. i loved it, the soleman way you kept talking about your company and all this and that" (13). she had to get him to know how she felt about him to make her seem like the trustworthy and loving women. the more i read about the novel i began to see that its was becoming erotic, cruel and ambivalent. just as in the definitions of Film Noir it explained all this just by the way the mood and the conflict started in the novel. Mr Huff is justifying his perspective of life he feels like he knows all the ropes around to get a way with a murder. Even though in many film Noir the narrative tells many flashbacks but not in this novel but James M Cain makes it very thrilling and i cant wait to contiune the novel to see how it turns out.
Also in this novel you can tell how he emphasizes about the crime begin brutal, shadowy and sadistic. Mr .Huff was very doomed in love with Mrs.Nirdlinger which bought his weakness out as always you sure can predict what will happen in the novel because of how it started it that's what is nice about film Noir because you can assume this will happen but it flips to a different conflict which excites me a lot. Double Indemnity is a great novel to be explain what film Noir is all about.
I agree with you that Double Indemnity is like film noir in so many ways. Because we have a mature man, who seems to have his life together by being a insurance salesman. But that is until he meets Mrs. Nirdlinger who plays our femme fatale, who manipulates him into committing a crime. She manipulates him to the point that he is willing to risk losing everything in his life, just so he can commit this crime for her and hoping they could be together in the end. I am too very anxious to keep reading this novel so I can find out what happens. Does Mr. Huff and Mrs. Nridlinger end up continuing the romance they have already started?? Or do they both end up getting caught? Or does one end up killing the other one..? Good job on the blog by the way!!
ReplyDeleteVery well put Chanel, Double Indemnity truly shows what film noir is like, especially having Phyllis fitting the description of the femme fatale, the manipulative woman who traps Walter into choosing murder for the sake of love he feels for her. Also, how very true how you said that he emphasizes the crime as being “brutal, shadowy, and sadistic”. Crime is indeed one of many elements that identify what film noir is. Hopefully, Walter realizes the mess he’s gotten himself into, instead of being blinded by love, and finds a way out, but knowing what film noir treats the male protagonist, the dark love they feel for each other will probably be their downfall. Very good job on your blog, and thank you for commenting on mine.
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