American authors James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler published Double Indemnity in 1943 and “Red Wind” in 1946, after the Great Depression. Both texts belong to the genre of noir fiction. The two main components of noir texts include hard-boiled fiction and the femme fatale. Hardboiled fictions are stories that resonate with American crime stories; while the femme fatale is the representation of women as attractive, seductive and manipulative characters in stories. Both Cain and Chandler are authors who share similar viewpoints, but use different techniques to portray the same components of femme fatale and hard-boiled fiction in their texts. Both incorporate the use of satire and symbolism to criticize the growing status of women in society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Great Depression was a worldwide financial crisis that occurred due to the stock market crash in 1929. The Great Depression gave rise to women's rights movements the ability to pursue employment. It was normal for women to be solely responsible for household chores, be an acceptable mother, and fulfill the duty of a wife. Due to the pressures of the Great Depression and immediately following World War II, women were able to maintain their jobs to support their families. Many of the occupations held by women included working as clerks, nurses, housekeepers, and teachers. Most men, who considered themselves the “breadwinners” or primary financial supporters of their families, strongly disapproved of women obtaining paid employment because they believed that the only title women should obtain was that of “caretaker”; furthermore, their position in the patriarchal system they had always known was threatened. Their jealousy stems from the fact that women receive paid work as many men, fathers and husbands have been fired from their professions. This mentality that men had during this time period can be found in the work of author James M. Cain in Double Indemnity and Raymond Chandler “Red Wind”. Both Cain and Chandler satirize women in this time period by using the femme fatale to focus on women who use seduction as a technique to get her lovers into disastrous and compromising situations which, in addition to degrading the intelligence and purpose of the movement for women's rights to achieve men's equality both economically and socially. James M. Cain, born in 1892, worked as a journalist before being drafted into the United States Army for World War I, where he was deployed to France for the final year of the war. His return to the United States influenced him to turn to writing as he became famous for his hardboiled fiction. After publishing noir novels he moved to Hollywood to start writing screenplays. Cain's famous hard-boiled fiction titled Double Indemnity begins when Huff, an insurance agent, visits a client, Mr. Nirdlinger, to convince him to renew his car insurance. When he discovers that Mr. Nirdlinger is not at home, he meets Phyllis, his client's wife. Cain's use of the femme fatale is represented through Mr. Nirdlinger's wife, Phyllis. Phyllis, described as extremely attractive, attracts Huff's attention and leads to his destruction as together they have an affair and hatch a plan to kill Phyllis' husband with the intention of taking over her husband's insurance policy. After Huff isin love with Phyllis and they killed her husband, Mr. Nerdlinger's daughter, Lola is convinced that her mother died of pneumonia and her mother's nurse, Phyllis intentionally fell in love with Mr. Nirdlinger for his money. To prevent Lola from discovering the truth about her father's death, Huff realizes he must kill Phyllis despite his love for her. Intending to trap her, he lets his guard down and wakes up in the hospital with a gunshot wound given to him by Phyllis. Confessing his crimes, Huff falls in love with Lola, but discovers that she has promised him another. Feeling hopeless and alone, both Phyllis and Huff commit suicide by throwing themselves into the sea. Red Wind incorporates a similar plot that also portrays the themes of hardboiled fiction and the femme fatale. Facing unemployment due to the Great Depression, American novelist Raymond Chandler began writing noir novels in 1932. Chandler's hard-boiled novel, "Red Wind," begins immediately with the murder scene. Chandler begins the story with the murder scene to capture the attention of his readers. Three men: Philip Marlowe, a drunk, and a man called Waldo, sit in a bar and begin a conversation. It becomes surprising for readers when they learn that suddenly the drunk kills Waldo and quickly flees from the crime scene. Marlowe, a detective and witness to the crime, discovers that a woman named Lola was supposed to meet Waldo to retrieve her pearls while Waldo was blackmailing her into having an affair with her husband. Throughout the novel Marlow helps Lola find her pearls despite the killer subsequently attempting to kill all the witnesses to the crime. The femme fatale is prevalent in “Red Wind” through the character of Lola. Similar to Phyllis in Double Indemnity, Lola represents the femme fatale as she leads Marlowe to his destruction. After Lola saves Marlowe's life, his feelings for her change and he is willing to protect her, no matter the cost. It is this mentality that leads him down a catastrophic path. Chandler portrays Lola as a damsel in distress who needs the help of a male character to recover her pearls, which further validates Chandler's message that women lack the ability to sustain independent, heroic roles and that they are highly reliable in men. Cain developed the character of Phyllis throughout the text to demonstrate the femme fatale in Double Indemnity. Her seduction and attractiveness made Huff fall in love with her, but his greed ultimately led him to a depressive state that lured him into danger from the start. Keyes exclaims to Huff: "This woman would kill two other children, just to have the one child she wanted... she's a pathological case." In a patriarchal system where men are the breadwinners who provide financially for their families and women take care of them, the characters in Double Indemnity are the opposite. Since Mr. Nerdlinger represents her family's financial income, Phyllis neglects her duties as a mother and fails miserably in the role of wife. His ignorance, selfishness and greed for money threaten the ideas of patriarchal ideals familiar to society. Through the language of the text, it is possible that Cain's disapproval of the growing status of women in society is shown in Double Indemnity as he uses satire to mock and criticize women for abandoning their roles as full-time domestic caregivers to pursue the workforce. This is satirized in the text as Phyllis abandons her duties in an attempt to cash in on her husband's insurance policy to take his money. On the other hand, Chandler gives Lola's character more flexibility and understanding as far as the femme fatale goes. Lola is.