Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
"Double Indemnity" is a novel by James M. Cain that explores themes of desire, betrayal, and moral decay through the story of Phyllis Nirdlinger and Walter Huff. Initially published as an eight-part serial in *Liberty* magazine, the novel is known for its suspenseful plot where an unhappily married woman, Phyllis, manipulates insurance agent Walter into assisting her in murdering her husband for financial gain. The narrative draws parallels to Cain’s earlier work, "The Postman Always Rings Twice," but introduces distinct characters and settings, emphasizing the intricacies of the insurance industry rather than a more general legal backdrop.
The relationship between Phyllis and Walter is marked by a complex interplay of love and manipulation, ultimately leading to their self-destruction and a shared realization of their feelings for one another. The novel features a supporting cast that includes Phyllis's stepdaughter and her suitor, adding layers of tension and emotional conflict. Despite facing criticism from some contemporaries, Cain's concise storytelling, alongside his exploration of materialism and the awakening to genuine human connections, positions "Double Indemnity" as a significant work within the crime fiction genre. The book's ironic title reflects its themes of duality and consequence, illustrating how ambition can lead to downfall.
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Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1936
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Double Indemnity was written by Cain in approximately two months; it appeared initially in Liberty magazine as an eight-part serial. It was, as Cain himself admitted, practically a rewriting of The Postman Always Rings Twice. In both novels, a man, obsessed with desire for a married woman and tempted by the prospect of easy money, contrives under the woman’s encouragement a scheme to murder the husband and profit from the murder. In each novel the effect of the successful criminal enterprise is the self-destruction of the principals in tandem with their ultimate realization of their true love for each other.
Although neither title was Cain’s inceptive selection—the original title of The Postman Always Rings Twice was Bar-B-Que, and Double Indemnity was suggested to Cain by James Geller—both include an ironic play on types of dualism. Fatal accidents happen twice, one staged and one actual, in the first novel. In the later novel, there are two double compensations for an accidental death that is actually a murder: The first is the double-indemnity insurance award, and the second is the self-execution decided upon by the two murderers who collected the insurance.
Despite the similarities, the novels remain distinct; each has its special characteristics, and each is a masterwork. The murderers in Double Indemnity are Phyllis Nirdlinger, a very attractive, unhappily married woman, and Walter Huff, an insurance agent who falls in love with Phyllis and whom she uses as the instrument of gaining her ends. Phyllis is more cunning and venomous than Cora Papadakis, and Walter is superior to Frank Chambers in both industry and intelligence. The intricacies of the legal profession inform the plot of the earlier novel, and the complexities of the insurance business inform the plot of Double Indemnity.
The love story in The Postman Always Rings Twice is fashioned against images of purgative swimming (off the seashore) and fertility (Cora is pregnant when the accident takes her life). In Double Indemnity, the love story is cast against images of sterility (hearth fire, the moon, Phyllis’s thinking of herself “as Death”) and culminates in the suicide pact of leaping from a ship into shark-filled waters.
Double Indemnity has other elements that are absent from Cain’s first novel. There is a deep friendship between Huff and a father-figure named Keyes, who is head of the insurance company’s claims department. There is a subplot involving Phyllis’s stepdaughter Lola and Beniamino Sachetti, Lola’s suitor. Huff’s affection for the stepdaughter results in a double love triangle: Phyllis-Huff-Lola and Lola-Sachetti-Huff. These elements add depth to the story without even slightly curtailing its pace. Raymond Chandler, who wrote the screenplay for Double Indemnity, considered the novel, and Cain’s work in general, to be “the offal of literature.” The judgment, although seconded by not a few critics of Cain’s fiction, is rash. In Double Indemnity, Cain manages not only to tell a gripping story in very few words but also to introduce a credible love story and a moving friendship into the lives of its concisely sketched characters. Furthermore, Cain’s theme, materialistic and selfish dreams as leading eventually to an awakening into the reality of human affections, is far from negligible.
Bibliography
Cain, James M. “An Interview with James M. Cain.” Interview by John Carr. The Armchair Detective 16, no. 1 (1973): 4-21.
Fine, Richard. James M. Cain and the American Authors’ Authority. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992.
Forter, Gregory. “Double Cain.” Novel 29 (Spring, 1996): 277-298.
Hoopes, Roy. Cain. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1982.
Hoopes, Roy. Our Man in Washington. New York: Forge, 2000.
Madden, David. Cain’s Craft. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1985.
Madden, David. James M. Cain. New York: Twayne, 1970.
Marling, William. The American Roman Noir: Hammett, Cain, and Chandler. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995.
Nyman, Jopi. Hard-Boiled Fiction and Dark Romanticism. New York: Peter Lang, 1998.
Skenazy, Paul. James M. Cain. New York: Continuum, 1989.