Frank is tried and convicted for killing Cora. While on death row, he is visited by a priest and by District Attorney Sackett, who confronts him with the evidence of his involvement in Nick's murder and reasons that if he resists his legal fate in Cora's death that he'll only wind up back where he is with a conviction for Nick's murder. Frank accepts that, while he is innocent of Cora's murder, his execution will be a fitting punishment for his murder of Nick. Frank muses that, just as the postman always rings a second time to make sure people receive their mail, fate has ensured that he and Cora have finally paid the price for their crime.
James M Cain The Postman Always Rings Twice Pdf 28
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Frank Chambers: You know, there's something about this that's like... well, it's like you're expecting a letter that you're just crazy to get, and you hang around the front door for fear you might not hear him ring. You never realize that he always rings twice.
Frank Chambers: Well, he rang twice for Cora... and now he's ringing twice for me, isn't he? That's about it. The truth is, you always hear him ring the second time... even if you're way out in the backyard. Father, you were right. It all works out. I guess God knows more about these things than we do. Somehow or other Cora paid for Nick's life with hers. And now I'm going to. Father, would you send up a prayer for me and Cora? And if you could find it in your heart... make it that we're together, wherever it is.
Mildred Pierce is a novel of post-Depression California. Herbert Pierce lost pretty much everything in the stock market crash of 1929, and he never really recovered, unwilling to take any real sort of job, preferring to fool around with a woman who isn't his wife. In 1931, at the beginning of the novel, Bert's wife, Mildred, is finally fed up and kicks him out. The novel follows her ups and downs and trials and tribulations for the next decade or so. She's a prideful creature, but does what she has to, sinking so low as to become a waitress in order to keep her house and support her two daughters, Ray (as the ridiculously named Moire is known) and Veda. A knack for pie-making and some good business sense eventually allow Mildred to achieve some success: she opens her own business, moving with the times in a way Bert can't (taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves along the way, such as the end of Prohibition, while Bert is stuck in the past). Bert remains a presence in Mildred's life, but there are also other men. Her situation now defines her. As a friend explains: "From now on you're fast."Mildred shows a bit of restraint (and usually pays for it when she doesn't), but does get involved with a few men, notably Monty Beragon -- a higher-class Bert (for whom Mildred is never quite classy enough). The real focus of Mildred's life -- and the destructive core of the novel -- is dear little Veda. Only eleven when the book begins, she's already "something to look at twice". She matures quickly, physically and otherwise -- most noticeably with:two round, swelling protuberances that had appeared almost overnight on the high, arching chest. They would have been large, even for a woman: for a child of thirteen they were positively startling. Veda is a demanding little brat, with her own ideas about how things should be. She wants to live in style and expects nothing less. And too often Mildred gives in to her whims and demands. Too often, too, Mildred -- after initially reacting correctly -- tells Veda that the haughty girl was right after all. Veda is irredeemable from the start, but Mildred's treatment of her -- working to allow her to live in a "horsy, streamlined heaven" and not setting any boundaries -- eventually sets the stage for Veda to destroy her mother. Veda is, of course, the most entertaining character in the book, though Cain isn't willing to go all-out in revelling in her depravity. Instead their are only hints and suggestions -- such as when Monty first meets her and describes the encounter to Mildred: "She's the most delightful little thing I've met in a long time, but never mind about her."Monty helps introduce Veda to the lifestyle she craves -- but Cain focusses on the (comparatively) boring Mildred and her dreary pie-making. Mildred's rise and stumbles are closely chronicled: there's triumph over adversity and personal tragedy (dear little Ray, for example, goes opportunely by the wayside -- at the best melodramatic moment, too -- disposed of likely only that Mildred can feel that "guilty, leaping joy" that it was Ray, not Veda). Each move up comes with a loss or price -- and usually something to do with Veda. Veda has a musical gift -- though what she's best at is manipulating people. She leaves school early and does what she has to to get ahead -- and get ahead she does. Cain even shows glimpses of a human side to her, but the monster within dominates. Mildred always thinks she can get her daughter back, and ultimately it's all she cares about: she'd sacrifice everything else for her. And in the end, of course, she pretty much does. Not that it helps. Veda finds success -- as a coloratura, no less -- but Mildred can't share in it. As someone explains to Mildred, "All coloratura, they got, 'ow you say ? -- da gimmies. Always take, never give." Mildred Pierce is an odd novel. It is an effective portrayal of the economic turmoil of 1930s and 40s California. In the title character Cain has created a decent strong-willed, enterprising woman -- with a fatal weakness. Mildred's relationships with men, and the sacrifices she makes in order to get ahead, are quite well done; so are some of the scenes of her adjusting to new situations -- whether taking up work as a waitress or dealing with a new (or old) man in her life. But she's not a truly compelling character -- while Veda potentially is. But Veda is never allowed to dominate the book, as everything is presented from Mildred's perspective. This makes what Veda does seem all the more shocking, but likely most readers would have preferred following her life rather than Mildred's all along. Mildred Pierce isn't boring, but there is some tedium. Cain doesn't risk or dare enough, and Mildred's blindness about her daughter is too simple to really move the reader. For all that, Mildred Pierce is worth reading to the end even if only to reach the last lines, as the novel does conclude with one of the great romantic exchanges of modern American literature, Bert and Mildred together again: "Come on, we got each other, haven't we ? Let's get stinko." "Yes -- let's get stinko."
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