Double Indemnity, A Tale of Bleakness

              Reading the novel, Double Indemnity by James Cane is really a very interesting and breathtaking experience. The theme, style, characterizations and delivery of the scenes are definetly enjoyable to readers.
              The story starts with an insurance agent called Walter Huff. He goes to a spanish looking house for a client's insurance renewal pupose. He calls the house "House of Death" (pg 30) in the very beginning; which gives readers an impression of something related with death. As we know that film noir is about deaths and bloodsheds most of the time. The starting of the novel with such a comment about a house, makes readers want to know why he called the house "House of Death"?
              If we try to catagorize the novel in a film noir catagory, it perfectly fits in it. The extra-marital relationship between Walter and Phyllis is an aspect of film noir. The description of their relationship gives us clues about the moral corruption of the story. But, it was just the beginning of a picture of a morally corrupted woman Phyllis, who is also femme fatale of the story.
             I will now try to discuss a little bit of the theme and style of the novel Double Indemnity, that matches very well with the genre of film noir. "Film noir films (mostly shot in grays, blacks and whites) show the dark and inhumane side of human nature with cynicism and doomed love, and they emphasize the brutal, unhealthy, seamy, shadowy, dark and sadistic sides of the human experience" ( From the website Filmsite).
When the reders find out about Phyllis's brutal and heartless murders of several other people, including three innocent children, it gives them the feeling of endless hatred towards this evil woman. This feeling makes us to look at this psycho character as we through a look to a black widow. Her character is full of venom and bleakness. All over her life, she lived on bloodsheds and greed.
             Walter realized his sin right after the cold blooded killing of Mr. Nerdlinger. He is actually the victim of Phyllis. The repentance and guilt feeling of Walter was so deep that, even though he loves Lola so much he could not take a kiss from her-"I couldn't kiss the girl whose father I killed". This state of mind of Walter clears up his guilty feeling that he is being bearing through the story.
             The end seems pretty disapointed for the readers because of the main criminal Phyllis's escape. But it is also one of the style of film noir, so the novel fits well in it.