Late in the novel Huff remarks that he never thought of his victim, Mr. Nirdlinger, as a living human being, but only as an imaginary construct.
(And Cain does not allow the reader to "know" Nirdlinger in the sense that the other characters are known, for he appears but twice in the novel.) This statement reveals one of Cain's main themes in the novel, the latent instinct man harbors to kill without logical forethought. The irrepressible attractions of sexuality and greed are part of Huff's motivation to kill, but Cain realizes that an ordinary working man.....
This is a free excerpt of 96 words. This section contains 187 words. This
study guide contains 19,009 words (approx. 63 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our Double Indemnity Access Pass.
