Essay On Walter Neff's Double Indemnity

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Walter Neff is to blame for the unfortunate circumstances that befall him throughout Double Indemnity because he is easily influenced and blinded by the need to help the vulnerable victim. On a rainy day, when Phyllis arrives at Walter’s apartment she begins to play the role of a damsel in distress. Her sob story about how her husband keeps her shut out from the world is enough for Walter to jump into what was first a meaningless thought floating about Phyllis’ head. She was never going to do it - murder her husband, at least not alone. Walter was completely willing to execute the murder of her husband so flawlessly in order to be able to reap the benefits of his accident insurance. The craziest part is that Walter barely knows Phyllis, driven purely by Phyllis’ defenselessness. They had only met two times prior and Walter had not even met her husband before he took initiative to plan the murder of him. He knew nothing truly about Phyllis situation, only the narrative she told him about the abuse he inflicted on her physically and emotionally. Walter goes from…show more content…
When Phyllis’ step-daughter, Lola appears in Walter’s office after the death of her father, Walter does not anticipate the confession she brings with her. He avoids eye contact, his back against her because at this time he is loyal to Phyllis. But as Lola holds her face in her hands and tears stream down her face Walter slowly rotates his head to face her. The gradual turn is also his original devotion wavering. After finding out that Phyllis was Lola’s mother’s nurse and hearing Lola’s determined theory that Phyllis was behind both deaths of her parents, Walter’s sensitivity to the victim is changed from Phyllis to Lola. He sees a broken little girl, motherless, fatherless, weeping, and living on her own. The scene quickly tops Phyllis’. Phyllis’ story no longer compares to Lola’s. The helplessness in a more fragile victim changes

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