Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Double Indemnity Heroes

In your mind, are there any heroes in Double Indemnity? If so, who? 

Double Indemnity is a film with a plot filled with corruption, adultery and murder and is exciting from the first minute to the last. It seems as though every character is corrupted by either love or power/money with no true hero that saves the day or does the right thing. However, if there was one character who was good and true throughout the whole film, it would be Barton Keyes. Keyes is a colleague and friend of the main character, Walter Neff. He is a hard worker and never lets a case go thanks to his "little man" or gut feeling inside his stomach. 

 Keyes is the investigator that solves the murder of Mr Dietrichson. The homicide was almost ruled as an accident or suicide but Keyes knew there was something more to the story and trusted his "little man" as he investigated the case. Even when it seemed that there was no more evidence or leads to work with and he no one supported him, Keyes never gave up and continued to pursue the truth. As we know, his best friend, Neff was the true murderer and the answer was right under his nose the whole time and without the confession of Neff, Keyes may have arrested the wrong man. Keyes is the only character in the film that was not corrupt and showed true sincerity and strong morals. Although Double Indemnity is filled with characters that have been corrupted by lust or power, Barton Keyes is the closest thing to a real hero in the film. 

1 comment:

  1. First define "hero"- it will help to focus your response as you prove how/why he fits into the definition

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