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Double Indemnity And The Postman Always Rings Twice Summary

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What sets James Cain’s “Double Indemnity” and “The Postman Always Rings Twice” apart is the dynamic created between the two ‘partners in crime’: Phyllis and Walter; Frank and Cora. Cain employs animal metaphors to characterize the two proto-femme fatales, Cora, the insecure small-town beauty and Phyllis, the manipulative “out-and-out” killer (184). The comparison between these women and different predators shapes how the reader views the narrator, his decisions and culpability. In “Double Indemnity,” Phyllis is directly compared to a rattlesnake and implicitly, to a shark. Walter explains that he “loved [Phyllis] like a rabbit loves a rattlesnake” (174), establishing a predator-prey dynamic between them. Much like how rattlesnakes lie in wait for their prey before striking them with paralyzing venom, Phyllis had been looking for someone to help her kill Mr. Nirdligner as part of a larger plot and Walter goes right to her like a rabbit. In a way he becomes ‘paralyzed’ both by Phyllis and his actions in her plot. He is unable to pursue a relationship with the daughter of the man he murdered or to protect her from Phyllis without …show more content…

Cora is compared to a “cougar.” Female cougars, are feared for their killing ability, but also known for their maternal instincts. It is when Cora is at her most dangerous and “wild” (96), that she first displays maternal behavior to a puma kitten. Shortly after, she reveals to Frank that she is pregnant, feeling “life” growing inside her (101). Phyllis, on the other hand, is compared to a snake and a shark, two species known to not care for their young and that have been known to eat their young if they cross paths. Phyllis as a nurse and step-mother, subverts the expectation of women as caregivers and bringers of life. Phyllis murders people and children in her care when working as a nurse and plans on killing her own

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