To Love is to Sacrifice and to......... know what comes next you better read this blog

#3 Double Indemnity has been called “a film without a single trace of pity or love.” Do you agree with this statement? Think about the motivations that lie behind the actions of Walter Neff and Phyllis Dietrichson when you consider your response.

In order to answer this question in the most effective manner possible, the definition of "Love" and "Pity" must be made clear. Love ,as defined by Omar-the-wise, is " a decision making factor that, if not known to be existent by the person it inhabits, can sometimes transgress the boundaries of reason and thus produce an action, as well as a result, that was not carefully decided by the subject". Now if the subject, who has a form of love, knows the existence of his/her love and for what that love is directed to, then one can regulate when love can affect decision making, if one thinks carefully about the decision; yet, if one were to be faced with an uncontrollable situation where time is of the essence, then love, as well as other emotions, might prevail over one's reasoning. This can yield both good and bad results, as the action performed is unknown by the subject until the specific decision making time passes. Love can be both selfless and selfish and unconditional as well as conditional. Due to these various forms, love can involve people , physical inanimate objects, or pretty much any concept. This love and it's fast decision making can involve sacrifices since it puts one's reasoning and the benefits of such reasoning aside, thus love can cause sacrifices for loved ones, which puts one in a state of possible vulnerability, this being selflessness. One can also love himself/herself and thus reinforcing one's various reasonings and defense mechanisms, this being Selfishness.

Pity possesses a much simpler definition. " Pity is when an individual shows a form of empathy to another where, this can be due to an unfavorable tragedy striking the pitied person or that person is lacking in some ability that the observer either possesses, or that specific ability is required for the success in the situation the pitied person is in."

Now since the definitions are clear, How can one apply them to Double Indemnity and the claim that there is no Pity or Love in the film?

Using the definitions of love outlined above one can say that Phyllis Dietrichson possessed a form of unconditional selfish love for herself throughout most of the movie; first when she allegedly killed Lola's mother so that she can marry Mr.Dietrichson, who according to his last name is Rich, and is also dead. This selfish love for herself and monetary gain affected her reasoning since if she wanted Mr.Dietrichson dead then she would have left Lola an orphan and killed a man for shiny metal (money). Phyllis' love for herself also extends to the point where she would use her sexual appeal and her body to acquire what she desired. Thus if the love used in the question can be extended to selfishness, then, By all means both Phyllis and Walter Neff are driven greatly by love. Walter's love unlike Phyllis' wavers much more often, firstly from being against killing Mr.Dietrichson, and thus showing no love to such an idea, to falling madly in love with Phyllis' and killing a man just to satisfy her. His love for Phyllis can be described as conditional and selfless, which is supported by the fact that he committed murder and prospectively theft, just to be with her; however, after realizing her Phyllis’ nature from Lola and from Phyllis' interaction with Nino , Lola's former boyfriend, his love shifted from Phyllis to the point where he confronted her and suggested killing her, which he eventually does.Phyllis although never possessing love towards Walter does , rather surprisingly, not kill Walter after wounding him with a shot to the shoulder, and says that this was the only minute that she really loved him, so she didn't shoot him, if the definition of love here is speaking of selfless love then at that moment this would have been the only example of love, although unrequited, since Walter shoots her in cold blood, and portrays no love whatsoever.

In terms of pity, one can say in some instances that when  Jackson offered his aid to Walter, who pretended to have a broken leg, and asked him if he wanted to smoke, Jackson showed some pity on Walter since he thought that a man who has a leg injury might find it both difficult and inconvenient to go and find an item in another cart, thus fulfilling the requirement for the definition of pity. When walter picked Lola up from the side of the street in order for her to go with her boyfriend, Walter showed her some pity since she was naive of the ways world and was in need of travelling assistance. Although such an action can also seem to fit in the love category, it doesn't fulfill the decision making portion of love, since Walter was not overly drawn to help her, but it was rather a gesture of common courtesy. A final example of pity can be seen when Walter convinces Nino to go for Lola, and not enter the house, where walter had killed Phyllis, since according to walter, Lola was the one that truly loved Nino. This fits the category of pity since Walter could have perceived Nino to be, too young and too naive to be involved in such a murder case.

Overall depending on the certain type of love meant by the question, it could be argued there is love in the movie Double Indemnity of many kinds, yet with no love being found at the end of the movie, as shown by Walter’s killing of Phyllis. There is however without a doubt some extent of pity, which is true regardless of the different definitions of pity, in which most cases are shown to those who are naive, such as Lola and Nino.    

Works Cited :

Double Indemnity. Dir. Billy Wilder. Perf. Edward G. Robinson. MCA Home Video, 1991. DVD