RARA-AVIS: The Postman Always Rings Twice

Debbie Chilson (dlchilson@hotmail.com)
Sun, 08 Nov 1998 20:26:41 EST Hi.

I recently finished reading James M. Cain's "The Postman Always Rings=20
Twice" and was struck by the frequent appearance of cats in the story.
I wondered about this and pondered it for several days. Finally, I came=20
up with a correlation between cats and the two main characters-- Cora=20
and Frank-- which I would like to try out on you all... just to see if=20
my idea doesn't sound too off course. Here it is. Let me know what you=20
think, or if I have read this all wrong:

Frank and Cora maintain a very violent, animalistic sexual relationship=20
throughout the course of the novel. They are particularly compared to=20
cats--especially Cora, who is called a "hell cat"--which makes for a=20
very interesting analogy. =20
Cats, as animals, have sex out of pure instinct for the purpose of=20
breeding. During their "heat," the female of the species is driven by=20
and extreme, nearly frantic desire to have sex. They also emit a=20
hormone which the male smells and reacts to. The act of copulation for=20
a cat is also very violent. It involves a great deal of scratching,=20
clawing and biting while the male tries to subdue the female so they can=20
mate. She fights him, despite the fact that she actually wants to mate=20
to slack the urge of frenzy her "heat" has caused. Compare this to the=20
relationship of Cora and Frank. It is equally as violent. Cora always=20
wants Frank to hit or bite her before and during intercourse. It is as=20
if he has to subdue her as the male cat must subdue his mate. Cora also=20
appears to be turned on by violence, such as the murder of her husband=20
and Frank=92s abuse of her own body. When she is turned on, it in turn=20
arouses Frank, like the hormones of the female cat do for the male. =20
Furthermore, Frank and Cora are driven by lust, just as cats are driven=20
by instinct-- neither consider affection as a reason for sex.

Debbie Chilson
dlchilson@hotmail.com

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