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The Moth (novel)

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Wikipedia article




'The Moth' is a novel by James M. Cain published in 1948 by Alfred A. Knopf. The work is the last of Cains four novels to feature opera as a central element of the story; the others are Serenade (1937), Mildred Pierce (1941) and Career in C Major (1943)Hoopes, 1982 p. 37-38Skenazy, 1989 p. 2 At over three-hundred pages, 'The Moth' is Cains most personal, most ambitious and longest book in his oeuvre, attempting to convey a broad, social landscape of America in the 1930s.Skenazy, 1989 p. 86: social landscape And p. 108: ...an episodic series of adventures that [describes] a range of American life.Hoopes, 1982 p. 424: ...the most ambitious, important contemporary novel he had ever attemptedMadden, 1970 p. 63: The Moth, Cains longest novel, is a character studya picaresque novel of the Great Depression

The novel is essentially a semi-autobiographical and picaresque work examining the Great Depression through the experiences of a 22-year-old drifter.Skenazy, 1989 p. 110: 'The Moth' is clearly autobiographical in a broad senseCain dates his first sexual encounter to a liaison very similar to the one described in the bookexactly parallels Cains [migration to California and his return to Maryland]...Madden, 1970 p. 63: ...a novel of the Great Depression And p. 71-72: The Moth celebrates the romance of the open road from a hobo perspective, attractive to male readers.

Plot summary



'The Moth' traces the life of Jack Dillon from childhood to middle age, in a saga that begins and ends in Baltimore, Maryland, with a sojourn in California during the Great Depression. Dillion is raised in a well-to-do family and enjoys performing as a choir boy, a high-school football champion and a Vaudeville troupe member in his youth. He becomes engaged to a local girl, but secretly develops a passion for her beautiful 12-year-old sister, Helen Legg. Dillion comes under unfounded accusations of having seduced Helen, and is forced to flee his home, but not before his father has lost his sons savings in the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

For years Dillion rides the rails as a hobo during the depths of the depression, working a multitude of skilled and unskilled jobs. In California he marries a woman who possesses an oil field. Dillion makes the enterprise profitable, but his wife discovers his obsession with Helen, and they divorce. He returns home to Maryland and is reconciled with his father. Helen, now a young woman, unites with Dillion and they live happily ever after.Hoopes, 1982 p. 426-427Skenazy, 1989 p. 107-109

Publication history



In April of 1947 Cain embarked on his most ambitious literary project, a quasi-autobiographical novel, 'The Moth'. He completed the first draft in December of 1947.Hoopes, 1982 p. 424: Cain began one of the novels that he considered to be the most ambitious, important contemporary novel he had ever attempted - The Moth. And p. 428

The origins of the story can be traced back to the early 1930s, shortly after Cain arrived in California to first work as a Hollywood screenwriter. He witnessed mass unemployment, including the transient workershoboswhom he saw riding boxcars near the studios.Hoopes, 1982 p. 426: Cain had first started thinking about elements of The Moth in the early 1930s, when he was planning his story about a California drifter working in the oil fields...Madden, 1970 p. 51: ...its story had its inception during the years 1932 to 1934. Biographer David Madden notes that Cain deliberately presents a detailed picture of the life of the hobo, the migrant worker [coming] closer to the proletarian writing of the 1930s than to the tough-guy school.Madden, 1970 p. 51

When Cain sent the manuscript to Alfred A. Knopf publishers, they praised the work, but registered concern about the pedophilic impulses of the protagonist Jack Dillon. An implied sexual encounter between a man in his early 20s and a 12-year-old girl, Helen Legg, prompted Cains own sister, Rosalie, to caution her brother to the eliminate scene. Cain insisted that the attraction was central to the story, denying any licentiousness. Nevertheless, he edited the material, introducing a platonic element into the relationship, hoping to make the novel palatable to Knopf, the film studios and the book clubs. Biographer Roy Hoopes writes: The James M.Cain who had written about adultery, murder, homosexuality, prostitution, and incest without caring what the studios and book clubs thought was mellowing.Hoopes, 1982 p. 428

'The Moth' was published in November of 1948.Hoopes, 1982 p. 432: The Moth published in 1948.

Critical Assessment



Upon publication, Cains longest and most personal novel was not being judged an overwhelming success despite Knopfs assurance to critics who considered Cain a pulp writer that the novel provided a wider [social] implication.Hoopes, 1982 p. 433



Among Cains champions were Stephen Longstreet of the Los Angeles Daily News, calling 'The Moth' a great book by a great author and Sterling North who lauded the novel as authentic poetry. The unfavorable and often scurrilous reviews dominated, from the Houston Post, The New Yorker, Time, and The New York Herald Tribune. The New York Times James MacBride wrote it is sad to report that Cains latest, most ambitious book was also his dullest; Merle Miller in the Saturday Review wrote that in 'The Moth', Cain writes the way you think Rocky Graziano might if he were more literate. These negative assessments contributed to the poor sales of the novel, leading Cain to remark ruefully that a simple tale, told briefly, is what people really like. By August 1948, 'The Moth' had sold a disappointing 25,000 copies.Hoopes, 1982 p. 433-434: ruefully based on Cain having second thoughts about books with wider implications. And p. 434: The poor reviews were hurting the book

Biographer David Madden lamented that 'The Moth' was an effort to let the Great Depression happen to one man [and] might have produced one Cains finest novels; but certain autobiographical elements entered into his conception and delayed the novels thrust into the depression material.Madden, 1970 p. 51

Theme



'The Moth', according to biographer Roy Hoopes is easily Cains most autobiographical effortHoopes, 1982 p. 427 The novel opens with an idealized recollection of Cains childhood encounter with a beautiful Luna moth, and his relief when the creature escaped from a boy who attempted to kill it. The moth serves as a symbol, appearing before protagonist Jack Dillion whenever life reaches a state of perfection. The object of his desire, Helen Legg is the only person who recognizes the insects beauty other than Dillon.Hoopes, 1982 p. 8Skenazy, 1989 p. 109: See for perfection quote And p. 110: Cains childhood epiphany [concerning] a moth.

The 12-year-old Helen appears as a Lolita-like figure, and Dillons love recalling Edgar Allan Poes attraction to young girls.Hoopes, 1982 p. 33: The Moth is about a 22-year-old man falling in love with a twelve-year-old girl.Madden, 1970 p. 79: The Mothanticipated a kind of Lolita figurePoes love of young girls.

Novelist David Madden notes that Cains character Jack Dillon is nothing like the world-weary Humbert Humbert. Jacks relationship with Helen is explicitly healthy, for the protection of her purity is his primary concern; Cain simply recognizes in this athletic American the presence of what might be considered an abnormal desire.Madden, 1970 p. 79-80 Literary critic Paul Skenazy observes:

Cain disclosed in his 'Memoir' (unpublished) a lifelong attraction to young girls, and that his first sexual encounter resembled that described in 'The Moth'.Skenazy, 1989 p. 110

Cain himself remarked: 'The Moth', I thought, had some vitality as an' tude in the love life of a twelve-year-old girl, but in many ways it was faulty. I may be taking another try at a similar theme, perhaps really carrying on that story in a different setting.Madden, 1970 p. 79-80

Footnotes



Sources



*Hoopes, Roy. 1982. 'Cain.' Holt, Reinhart and Winston. New York.

*Madden, David. 1970. 'James M. Cain'. Twayne Publishers, Inc. Library Catalog Card Number: 78-120011.

*Skenazy, Paul. 1989. James M. Cain. Continuum Publishing Company. New York.

Category:1948 novels

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