An Uncertain Ending

An uncertain ending that left me wanting more.  Chapter 14 gave me the feeling of many "possibilities."  It wasn't a "final chapter," but rather a opening to something more.  Its kinda like when you come to a fork in the road, but with more than two options.  Escaping from it all to another place, marry Phyllis, or even suicide!  On page 113 Walter says, "Ive been thinking about something else.  Phyllis smiled then, the sweetest, saddest smile you ever saw.  "I thought of the five patients" she said.  "The three little children, Mrs. Nirdlinger, Nirdlinger, and myself.  It didn't seem possible that anybody that could be as nice as she when she wanted to be, could have done those things."  Walter then asks her, "What were you thinking about?"  Then Phyllis says "We could be married, Walter."  Walter replies, "We could be.  And then what?  The notion of uncertainty surrounds them, bringing almost a desperation to which way they should retreat.  "She started it again.  There is nothing ahead of us, is there Walter?"  "No.  Nothing" says Walter.  I almost feel sadness and pity for this "dynamic duo."  But like the saying says, what goes around, comes around, and that is exactly what happened to them.  Walter and Phyllis's relationship started, and then ended just as quickly, the same.  For two unforbidden lovers, found themselves going separate ways at the end. 

Blog Entry #3, The relationship between Walter and Phyllis....

In the start of this section in the novel, I believe that what Phyllis and Walter shared was lust for each other.  Of course, with an added bonus of the accident insurance money to share.  It seemed like Walter was really looking out for Phyllis, making sure she wouldn't do anything to mess up their scheme.  In actuality though, I feel like Walter was actually only looking out for his own interest.  I that that the deeper he got involved with this plot, the more he felt insecure about it.  Not only for himself, but too that he didn't want Phyllis to mess up on anything.  After getting to know Lola more and more, Walter quickly realized who he actually had fallen for.  Being filled with feelings of guilt for having to kill Lola's father, made Walter's feelings for Phyllis look less attractive.  Although he knew he just couldn't kick Phyllis out of his life, it was because he needed her, even if it were to be only temporarily.  So many important quotes in this section describe the love-hate relationship that Walter and Phyllis shared.  Their feelings for each other were not based on love, but rather for convenience.  Phyllis and Walter build a dependency on each other.  An example of this was when Walter becomes paranoid about having the murder discovered.  He constantly needs to check with Phyllis to make sure she is taking the right steps during the investigation of the murder.  Throughout this section, Phyllis and Walter learn to predict each others moods.  For me, they are much more alike then they really want to admit to.  They are both really lonely, twisted, and insecure people. 

Reading Response One: Double Indemnity (3 to 33)

As I started reading Double Indemnity by James M. Cain, It quickly made sense how this story is attributed to being a work associated with film noir.  As the examples given on the hand-out of "Primary Characteristics and Conventions of Film Noir: Themes and Styles" state, mystery, moral corruption, paranoia, murderers, and insecurity quickly came to mind.  In only the first thirty-three pages of this story, I saw examples of each of these convictions being displayed.  Starting with the first kiss to a married woman, all the way to a "speedy loan" for the daughter of a soon to be murdered man.  A characteristic of the first section of the novel that I felt related to the following quote is..a twisted plotting of a plan to create a perfect murder.  The quote I picked was from page 24, in Double Indemnity, " If that seems funny to you, that I would kill a man just to pick up a stack of chips, it might not seem so funny if you were back of that wheel, instead of out front.  I had seen so many houses burned down, so many cars wrecked, so many corpses with blue holes in their temples, so many awful things that people had pulled to crook the wheel, that that stuff didn't seem real to me anymore."  For me this quote speaks of a non-shullant attitude to what happens in life.  Kind of like, live life as it comes.  For me, this character (Huff) is portraying himself as a expert in the field of corruption, who knows the ins and outs of how to get around from being caught.  This story was one big roller-coaster ride for me, with many climaxes.  A "desperate married woman,"  named Phylis is introduced in the novel, whose true intentions are nothing but inhumane.  She wants to collect on an insurance policy of her husbands', not caring about who she involves in her plot.  Hurting the feelings of her husbands' daugther Lola, at the thought of her father being murdered, is furthest from this woman's mind.  Even Mr. Huff, the insurance man, who becomes blinded by this woman's beauty finds himself mesmerized at helping her in her scheme to "get rid of her husband" in order to collect on his accidental death policy.  On page 26 in the novel of Double Indemnity it states the character of Mr. Huff states, "But what bothered me wasn't that.  It was the witness that Phylis brought out.  I thought she would have some friend of the family in to dinner.  She didn't.  She brought the stepdaughter in.  The more I looked at her, the less I liked it.  Having to sit with her there, knowing all the time what we were going to do to her father, was one of the things I hadn't bargained for."  For me this made me feel that Mr. Huff did have some compassion in him, probably more so than Phylis, but even this was not enough for him to say, let's just call the whole thing off!

Why does noir seem to appeal to a limited audience today, instead of enjoying a wider following? The Neo-Noir '90S

After reading the article on "Film Noir," I agree with the notion that in todays world - 'Hollywood,' this kind of films would best be appreciated by someone who has a clearer understanding and appreciation for this kind of art.  From my understanding, "Film Noir," was born after the war of World War II, in the time where people looked forward, as the article states, as with "peace and prosperity."  A contrast that I found interesting is that "Film Noir," is described to us by the article as being with "dark and troubling fantasies of a dangerous, corrupt new world, where the lines between good and evil got crossed."  So then, when did this type of noir develop during a time of peace and prosperity?  And as far as women's statuses back then, where few to no rights for women existed, did women be portrayed on noirs as the article states, "ambiguous, sexy and treacherous?"   I think that in today's time, if you were to ask a teenager if they prefer to watch a film noir, or a horror flick, they more than likely not pick the noir.  I guess cause this type of film is outdated.  Lastly, back in the times after the World War II, these film noirs were considered to be great budget films, but unlike the times we live in now, these kind of film can only exist as low-budget movies.  Of course these films back in the 40's and 50's were great blockbusters, it only makes sense with all the new technology that has come out, for instance 3-D movies, that these noirs will eventually become extinct.  For me, technology should keep going forward, instead of trying to be stuck in it.  Sure it's great to preserve it, for the people that still enjoy it, but I feel that the reality is, that its died out.