邮差总按两次铃

The title and explanations of its meaning

The title is something of a non sequitur in that nowhere in the novel does a postman appear, nor is one even alluded to. The title's meaning has therefore often been the subject of speculation. William Marling, for instance, suggested that Cain may have taken the title from the sensational 1927 case of Ruth Snyder. Snyder was a woman who, like Cora in Postman, had conspired with her lover to murder her husband. It is recognized that Cain used the Snyder case as an inspiration for his 1943 novel Double Indemnity; Marling believes it was also a model for the plot and the title of Postman. In the real-life case, Snyder said she had prevented her husband from discovering the changes she had made to his life insurance policy by telling the postman to deliver the policy's payment notices only to her, and instructing him to ring the doorbell twice as a signal indicating he had such a delivery for her.

In the preface to Double Indemnity, however, Cain gave a specific, and entirely different, explanation of the origin the title for The Postman Always Rings Twice, writing that it came from a discussion he had had with screenwriter Vincent Lawrence. According to Cain, Lawrence spoke of the anxiety he felt when waiting for the postman to bring him news on a submitted manuscript—specifically noting that he would know when the postman had finally arrived because he always rang twice. Cain then lit upon that phrase as a title for his novel. Upon discussing it further, the two men agreed such a phrase was metaphorically suited to Frank's situation at the end of the novel.

With the "postman" being God, or Fate, the "delivery" meant for Frank was his own death as just retribution for murdering Nick. Frank had missed the first "ring" when he initially got away with that killing. However, the postman rang again, and this time the ring was heard: Frank is wrongly convicted of having murdered Cora, and then sentenced to die. The theme of an inescapable fate is further underscored by the Greek's escape from death in the lovers' first murder attempt, only to be done in by their second one.

In his biography of Cain, Roy Hoopes recounts the conversation between Cain and Lawrence, only he extends Lawrence's remarks. He did not merely say that the postman always rang twice, but rather that he was sometimes so anxious waiting for the postman that he would go into his backyard to avoid hearing his ring. It was no good, however, for if the postman's first ring was not noticed, his second one, even from the backyard, would be.

This is the explanation offered in the 1946 film adaptation of the novel.

转自豆瓣同名书籍词条下论坛

第一时间去翻了电影原著。喜欢这部“荡妇”与“奸夫”合杀糊涂丈夫的小说，有两个理由：首先，“奸夫”弗兰克的第一人称叙事风格干脆利落，不仅简练地勾勒了压抑、无望的氛围，并丝毫未影响主人公的情感爆裂式的释放；其次，“荡妇”科拉绝不可被轻松定义为杀夫的可怕女人。相反，她与所有人一样，经历着复杂而矛盾的情感，并试图以错误的方式抵抗命运。《邮差总按两遍铃》是个复杂又现实的人性、爱情故事。

男主人公弗兰克这个流浪汉对生活要求不高，并善于观察、头脑聪明：“没人比我更清楚[流浪]多么有意思。我知道这种生活的种种波折与欢乐，我还知道怎样去应付那种种波折。”然而，为与女主角科拉长相厮守，弗兰克跨越道德底线杀害其夫。这个健康的青年在致命恋情中纵情燃烧、堕为病人，并在最终逐渐复元时功亏一篑。

另一方面，令弗兰克神魂颠倒的科拉不是什么眉目含笑、模样身材皆不世出的勾魂尤物：“可那种阴沉的神态和嘴唇向外撅着的样子，让我真想替她把撅起的嘴唇推进去”。这个沉浸在对现状的不满和怨愤中的女人，注意力并不在勾引过路的小伙：“你听着，我和你一样是白种人，明白吗？我的头发可能是黑色的，长得也可能有点像，但我和你一样是白种人。”

如果弗兰克迷上另一个女人，结局显然会非常不同。例如，他偶遇的马奇性格爽朗、同样喜欢“流浪”，还自给自足地经营餐饮和幼兽租赁生意。相处轻松愉快的两人许是能共踏天南海北的逍遥伴侣。然而，命运就是如此恶毒地令并无共同点的弗兰克和科拉头也不回地直坠爱河。

作者毫无渲染地陈述了弗兰克对科拉的疯狂欲望：“他进去了，而我即刻把肚子里的东西全吐了出来。午饭也好，土豆也好，还有葡萄酒也好，都让我受不了。我只想得到那女人，想得如此厉害，连胃里都存不下一点东西”。面对欲望，科拉同样急切张狂得赤裸坦诚：“‘咬我！咬我！‘我咬了她，用牙齿深深咬住她的双唇，以致于我能感到鲜血喷进了我的嘴。我把她抱上楼时，血正顺着她的脖颈往下流。“

有意思的是，在做杀人决定和第一次尝试失败的时间点，科拉皆不断向爱侣强调：“我不是恶妇”。这句“狡辩”初听起来不免刺耳、荒诞：为一己之私取人性命，难道还不是自欺欺人的恶妇？为何不能干脆与情人一走了之？事实上，科拉害怕出走后再次堕入底层：“我在廉价小餐馆干，你也干类似的活，比方说，在停车场找个卑微的工作，身上穿件工作服。要是看见你穿罩衫，我会哭的，弗兰克。”

由此，问题的关键在于，身为一个软弱又传统的女人，科拉没有应对复杂问题的冷酷和决断。她像多数普通人一样，身不由主地在犹疑、混乱中翻滚 :首先，即便无比厌弃丈夫，她也只能焦躁地妥协，直到弗兰克的“降临”使暗潮翻为骇浪；其次，虽然科拉多次“嫌弃”弗兰克“不中用”，却不愿因此攀附个有钱情人。在爱上和舍弃流浪情人时，科拉分别展现一个弱女子的真诚与无奈：“你刚来时是地道的流浪汉，甚至连袜子都没穿 […] 你就是没衬衫我也会爱上你”。这个弱女子的“奢求”是体面的生活——“好好工作，干出个名堂来”。因此，虽然科拉先后依赖又随之抛弃了丈夫和弗兰克这两个“交通工具”，并为获得钱财做出了激进冒险的选择，我们还是难以对她进行简单的道德判断。

还是回到这个问题：为什么丈夫非死不可？因为科拉要的太多。在拥有真挚爱情的同时，她仍需要忧心忡忡地从物质生活中寻求安全感，害怕感情在动荡不安中枯萎。这样说来，联手杀人劫财的举动，是对感情的忠贞程度太有信心，还是信心不足？反过来，读者同样无法居高临下地判定科拉把物质看得高于爱情，因为她在之后甘愿以命试探弗兰克，只为给感情寻找出路。

在老练警官的挑拨下，科拉和弗兰克反目成仇。小说颇为黑色幽默的一笔在于，一手颠倒黑白、扭转呼之欲出的有罪判决的角色，是几大保险公司。这也侧面验证了伍迪•艾伦的俏皮话：“人生里有比死亡更糟的事情。你曾经和一个保险推销员待过一整夜么？”

虽然获得了无罪判决，想为自己和爱人赌得更好生活的科拉却心寒地发现，“相爱”这个为之奋斗的大前提失效了：“那天夜里上帝亲吻了咱们的额头，给了咱们任何两个人所可能拥有的一切，可咱们刚好不是能拥有这一切的那种人。这种爱就像一个大大的飞机引擎，它带你穿过天空来到山顶上，可如果你把这种爱放进福特牌汽车里面时，这种爱便被震得粉碎。”有评论同样写道：“面对恐惧，他们先后背叛了对方，爱比想象中更经不起考验。[...] 从此以后，他们就过上了不幸福的生活，开始互相猜疑、互相折磨”。

的确，甜蜜的激情岁月看上去被酒醉和不信任取代。例如，科拉外出时弗兰克也感到如释重负：“我觉着自由了。至少在一周内，我用不着争吵，或是竭力摆脱噩梦，也用不着靠烈酒来安抚一个女人，使其恢复好心情。”但我恰恰不觉得他们俩仅仅是“福特汽车”，又或者，他们千疮百孔的爱已无法挽回。事实上，弗兰克放弃流浪、留在科拉身边继续煎熬的选择，就是他爱情的证明：“我本想和那女人私奔 [...] 可我之所以没有去，是因为我知道我得回到你身边，咱们的命运已经连在了一起，科拉。”而曾在物质保障和爱情间不断挣扎的科拉，此时宁愿冒着丧命的风险，也不背叛情人。也许母亲的死和新生命的降临，让她愿意为消除嫌隙、挽回爱而赌上生命。令人不禁想起两人间单纯的柔情：“我用手指摸了摸这些伤痕。它们又软又湿。我轻轻地吻了吻，那种轻柔的微微一吻，我以前从未有过。[…] 我俩什么也没做，只是在床上躺着，她不停地揉弄着我的头发，同时望着天花板，好像在想心事”。

科拉原本不必经历杀人、背叛、试探的过程。一番折腾后，她还会觉得杀掉丈夫真的是“唯一的选择”吗？ 不仅如此，最终的车祸虽为偶然事件，却也可以说是她与弗兰克互相试探的间接结果。不过，也许在科拉眼中，车祸根本不是最坏的结局：她在死之前，已带着孕育新生命的希望与喜悦，得到了珍贵的答案。

还记得海水中的科拉和弗兰克吗？这对男女摆脱了贪婪、懦弱、卑鄙等无关紧要的欲望，赤裸而单纯的：“她看上去像个小女孩。这是我第一次瞧出来她实际上多么年轻。我俩在沙滩上玩耍，后又在水里游出了很远，任浪涛晃动我们的身体。我喜欢让脑袋随波浪摆动，她则喜欢双脚随波浪摇摆。我俩面对面呆在那里，双手在水下握着。我抬起头来望着天空，那是你所能看到的一切”。