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Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Würzburg (Neuphilologisches Institut), course: Film Noir and Literature (Hauptseminar), language: English, abstract: In 1927, a woman named Ruth Snyder and a man named Judd Gray were sentenced to death by the electric chair, because they murdered the husband of Ruth, Albert Snyder. They murdered him for a 48,000$ life insurance with a double indemnity clause in it. Both of them also had an affair before they decided to murder Ruth's husband. Judd Gray was a corset salesman. Present to the trial was James M. Cain, at that time working as a reporter. Many believe that this case gave Cain the idea for one of his most famous novels, Double Indemnity. Several signs lead to that conclusion. First of all Ruth was unhappily married and began an affair with a salesman. Secondly her husband had already been married once, before he married Ruth, but his first wife died of pneumonia. Furthermore, the two of them had a daughter named Lorraine, who shares the same first two letters in her name with the Lola in Double Indemnity, daughter of Mr. and Ms. Nirdlinger. Moreover Ruth's husband was killed for the money of his life insurance, which contained a double indemnity clause. And last but not least they tried to disguise the murder as an accident, to collect on the double indemnity (see www.examiner.com).
Many say that Double Indemnity was one of Cain's masterpieces, and it was made into a movie, which was named after the novel. It is even said, by some, to have heavily influenced the roman noir genre, as the movie is said to have had a great impact on the film noir genre (see Skenazy, 34/134; Marling, 263). The aim of this term paper is not to give an overview of what is roman, or film noir. It is just going to point out one specific feature of both of the genres, and will try to give an explanation what makes this feature so special. The feature spoken of is the point of view (or perspective, or focalisation).
First, there will be the chapters two and three concerning the theoretical background of point of view in novels and screenplays. This will be done rather briefly and roughly, because this term paper is focused more on the effect of the point of view than the way it is structured. Chapters four and five then go into detail on the point of view in Double Indemnity, novel and screenplay. Over the course of these two chapters, two special effects will be highlighted, the 'Foreshadowing' and the way in which the reader's, or the audience's estimation of the characters is influenced. This is followed in the last chapter by a conclusion.