32 pages • 1 hour read
The Postman Always Rings Twice
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Chapter 16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary
Frank is convicted of murdering Cora. Katz tries to help him in exchange for “the $10,000 he had got for us, and the money we had made, and a deed for the place” (103), but to no avail. All of the evidence in the case is stacked against Frank, including a testimony from Madge, Cora’s autopsy showing her pregnancy, and a note that Cora left in the diner’s cash register in which she admits to killing Nick. Frank reveals that the narrative he has been telling up to this point is his confession so that “if they get me, he’s to take it and see if he can find somebody to print it” (104). He becomes philosophical about his life and what may come after death, wrestling with his own guilt and wondering about what drives him to behave the way he does. Frank’s conviction is not commuted, and the novel ends with a final plea from Frank to the reader to pray for him and Cora as he is taken away to his execution.
Chapter 16 Analysis
The final chapter calls into question the reliability of the novel’s entire narrative. Now that the reader knows that the book is Frank’s perspective of two tragedies, one for which he is about to be executed, Frank’s story becomes suspicious. Cain uses this revelation in the book’s final chapter to challenge the reader to discern what is accurate about Frank’s depiction of events and what is influenced by his belief that he is never at fault. Frank sheds a little light on this discernment when he recounts an interaction with an inmate, who claims it was “his subconscious” who murdered his brother (105). This passage suggests that Frank is not as innocent in his own downfall as he would like the reader to believe.
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By James M. Cain
