The Love Story in James Cains Mildred Pierce :: Mildred Pierce Essays

The Love Story in James Cains Mildred PierceIn Mildred Pierce, by James Cain, the brisk revolves around some very interesting and universal concepts that face to be foots in many of his novels. As in his previous work, the novel revolves around love, m championy, and sex, but though success is perverse and wish fulfillment destructive, there is no murder (Gale Group Biography) One most interesting theme is the theme of love and lust, and what drove the characters to their actions, and what motivated them. For some it was love, for some it was lust. So is Mildred Pierce a love story? Or is it just a twaddle of sex and scandals? In Cains works, love appears in almost a forbidden appearance, though it is obviously an important aspect. Cain said he had only one story to tell a love story. I write of the wish that comes true for some reason a terrifying concept ... I destine my stories have some quality of the opening of a forbidden box. The act of forcing the wish to come t rue isolates Cains obsesses lovers from society and places them on what he calls a love-rack (Madden, journal) This forbidden box is very apparent in Mildred Pierce, as seen through the eyes of Mildred. Mildred appears to be a normal working mother, loving her children, and providing everything for them that she can, meanwhile seek with her finances and problems with societys expectations, and even her daughter, Vedas expectations, which are quite a few. But underneath, theres this very forbidden concept. Mildred loves her daughter, Veda, almost in addition much. James T. Farell refers to Mildreds almost unnatural love for her daughter (Madden James M. Cain, 79) It is never exactly said in so many words, but the liking of Mildred loving her daughter more than what is natural is there, lurking underneath, like a forbidden box, on the verge of opening. Yet, even though we see signs of it, we dont seem to lose respect for Mildred, because of her character, and the way it is d rawn out, because Mildred herself never even realizes it. This is something that would seem to be very hard to accomplish as a writer, and Cain does a idle job of it, illustrating the forbidden and the not forbidden love Mildred feels for Veda.