By his own admission, Cain did not use literature as a vehicle for philosophizing or moralizing, but two concepts which appear in his fiction — he called them "the wish that comes true" and "the love-rack" — are indirect criticisms of two tendencies Cain saw in his society. In The Postman Always Rings Twice Frank Chambers and Cora Papadakis plot to murder Cora's husband, a swarthy, somewhat repellent Greek whom Cora cannot bear to live with any longer. They plan to make his death appear to be an accident, and if their scheme works they will be free to marry and leave the dusty roadside inn, a symbol of the vacuousness of their lives, with the money his insurance policy will provide: Their wish will have come true.

Cain complicates their plan, however, by having these characters, representative of the jaded men and women of Depression-era...