Nightfall
Cover Artist: Harry Schaare
By: Goodis, David
Publisher: Export Publishing Enterprises, Ltd. (News Stand Library Edition 39)
Place of Publication:Toronto, Canada
Catalog #: Kelley Box 259: PS3513 .O499 N54 1949
Contributor:
R. Brandt
General
Era: 1940s
Author as on Cover: David Goodis
Publication:1949
Original Date: 1947
Setting: urban
Plot Summary
Jim Vanning is a commercial artist living in Greenwich Village who had seen action in the South Pacific during the war. While driving through Colorado on his way to Chicago, he becomes involved with a group of bank robbers on the lam from a heist in Seattle. Vanning ends up killing one of them and getting away with a satchel filled with $300,000. The shock of these events causes him to forget the details of what happened. He killed a man, but was it self-defense or cold-blooded murder? And what happened to the money? He can remember taking it with him, but he lost it along the way and cannot remember where or when. Now he has the rest of the gang and the cops on his trail. Luckily for Vanning, the plain-clothes detective who is following him does not believe him guilty. However, neither will be satisfied until they get the money back.
Major Characters
John adult male, wide shoulders, creased leathery face, large flat nose, thick lips, thick salt-and-pepper hair, bank robber
Fred Harrison adult male, tall, heavy, square face, tanned skin, professional killer
Jim Vanning adult male, 33 years old, average height, husky, curly blonde hair, free-lance commercial artist (educated as an engineer)
Fraser adult male, small, thin, neatly combed black hair, mustache, sharp face, black eyes, plain-clothes police detective
Martha Gardner adult female, mid-20s, blonde hair, tanned, rosy cheeks, buxom, voluptuous ("in a quiet, wholesome way"), glassware buyer for a department store
*
Weapons
gun, fists (with brass knuckles)
Level of Violence
most of the violence described in the novel is fairly explicit. However, the violent scenes are brief and infrequent. Vanning is kidnapped by John and his two cronies and taken for a ride in a car. When he tries to escape, they beat him with brass knuckles. Since Vanning cannot remember the details of shooting Harrison, the description is correspondingly vague.
Sexuality
sexuality does not play a significant role in the plot. However, it does serve to move the story along when Martha Gardner picks Vanning up in the bar. This scene is Martha's first appearance in the novel, and Jim is obviously attracted to her physical appearance. Because of this attraction, Vanning lets his guard down, and goes with Martha to an out-of-the-way restaurant where John and his thugs are waiting for them.
Gender Roles
male: traditional, female: traditional. Gender roles do not play a significant role in the novel.
Ethnicity
not a significant factor
Alcohol/Drug Abuse
alcohol use is present; Vanning is a moderate drinker, but alcohol does not play a significant role in the plot.
Law Enforcement
Fraser is a plain-clothes NYPD detective assigned to follow Vanning and bring him in when he has sufficient evidence against him for the bank robbery in Seattle and the murder of Fred Harrison in Denver. Because Vanning does not act like a guilty man, Fraser becomes convinced that he is innocent. However, he struggles when his sense of duty conflicts with his sense of justice. When Fraser finally confronts Vanning and tries to figure out what really happened, he says, "If she's a criminal, we've got to put her in prison. That's why society hires us. You'd be amazed how some of us hate our jobs. But somebody has to do this kind of work."
Added Features
the elements of chance and fate play a role in the novel. Vanning blames much of his plight on the fact that he just happened to be driving through Colorado on his way East. "I had to travel to Chicago by way of Colorado. I couldn't take another road. No, I had to go and use that road." At the same time, when Fraser points out that he would never have met Martha otherwise, he disagrees: "I guess I would have met her somewhere. I don't know. I was bound to meet her."
Subject Headings
Veterans/ Amnesia/ New York (N.Y.)/ Robbery/ Police/ Murder/ Detectives
Psychological Elements
regressive amnesia: Vanning identifies the missing satchel with the killing of Harrison and subconsciously forces himself to forget its location. Fraser, a self-described "amateur psychologist", and Martha finally help Vanning break through his memory loss and he locates the satchel. Paranoia: the fear of the unknown and the horror of the fact that he killed a man and cannot remember whether it was self-defense or not causes massive paranoia on Vanning's part.
Film Adaptations
Nightfall, 1957, Columbia
