"Crimes and Misdemeanors"

Paper Summary:

This paper studies "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and tells the story of the two main characters - Judah Rosenthal and Cliff Stern. Judah is a seemingly happy and successful man until a moral situation rises with his mistress and everything changes. Cliff is unsuccessful and unhappy and also engages in an affair which changes his life. It concludes that the evil wins and good loses, with Judah being the evil man and Cliff the good man.

From the Paper:

""Crimes and Misdemeanors" deals with the moral struggles of two characters. Each of the characters is an opposite, with one being seen as good and the other as evil. However, by considering the situation in relation to Sarte's ideas on existentialism the nature of the situation can be understood in a new way. "Crimes and Misdemeanors" revolves around the moral struggle of two men. The first is Judah Rosenthal, a man who appears both successful and happy. He appears to be happily married as well as having a mistress, Delores. His moral decision is based on Delores, who threatens to tell his wife about the affair and also tell of his financial crimes. Judah acts by killing his mistress and his coming to terms with this decision is the moral struggle that continues throughout the movie. The second plot is the story of Cliff Stern, a man who is generally considered as unsuccessful. He is pushed by his wife into making a documentary about her brother, whom he loathes. In making the documentary, he meets Halley Reed. The story continues as he faces his moral dilemma of having an affair with Halley and we see the demise of his marriage."

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