Who's the Hero?

In the movie, Double Indemnity, few characters, if any, prove themselves to be a stereotypical hero that fights for good. In fact almost every character has an alternative motive to pursue the truth. 


My personal definition of a hero comes from years of watching sappy movies and reading classic children's books. I believe a hero is someone that above all fights for the good and wellbeing of others. When thinking of a character that fits this definition only one character comes to mind, Barton Keyes. Barton Keyes works along side Walter Neff at the insurance company. Keyes was the only character who questioned the motives of the others and worked to uncover the mystery. Without Keyes this story would be a story of a couple getting away with murder. However with Keyes in the picture, there is a force for good who complicates things. This is why I believe Keyes is the hero of the story, he gives contrast and, just like my storybook definition, fights for the good of others. On the other hand Keyes doesn't necessarily look for the killers for all the right reasons. Because he works at the insurance company, if he hadn't found the murders, the company would have been forced to pay a huge sum to Phyllis Dietrichson. This bias adds a negativity to his title as the story's hero.


A dictionary.com definition of the word hero says, "a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deedsand noble qualities". In some ways you can argue that Walter Neff fits this certain definition. To fool the insurance system Neff created an elaborate plan to murder Phyllis's husband, by this standard Walter is "a man of distinguished courage or ability". He was able to use his intelligence and with a ton of courage he was able to create a seemingly fool proof plan for murder. I believe he also fits the second half of this definition. Even thought he was committing an evil act, I admire him for doing it for a noble purpose. I think that he really did believe Phyllis loved him and more than he believed she was unhappy in her marriage and the death of her husband would free her from an unfortunate marriage. With this in mind I believe the Walter clearly fits this definition of a hero, even if he was committing a evil deed. 

I believe that the movie, Double Indemnity, does have heroes. While none of them are completely free of evil, Walter and Keyes both fit certain definitions of a hero. Keyes being more of the classic storybook character and Walter being more of a strict definition hero. There characters prove that heroes are not always the same and they are not always perfect. As my favorite Harry Potter quote says, "We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. Thats who we really are." Each of these characters has the qualities of being a hero, what matters is the part they choose to act most on.