Examples Of Femme Fatale In Motherless Brooklyn

Darian Hooker
English 4 “The Femme fatale, defined simply, is an irresistibly attractive woman, especially one who leads men into danger. In hard-boiled fiction, she is usually the protagonist’ romantic interest…The protagonist involvement with her my range from mild flirtation to passionate sex, but in the denouement he must reject or leave her, for the revealed plot shows her to be one of the causes of the crime.” Williams Marling, Professor of English Case Western University

Female Fatale

In the book Jonathan Lethem’s “Motherless Brooklyn” both Kimmery and Julia can both, arguably be considered “Femme Fatale”. Julia Minna, Frank Minna’s wife, was an attractive women (to the Minna men at least), and had a
She fits into the femme fatale category in more ways than one. One sub- category she fits into is the sexual tension category. The day after Frank Minna died, Lionel (protagonist) went over to Julia Minna’s house so that he could break the news of her husband’s death to her. When he arrived the entire house was dark with the exception of the bedroom. He followed her into it and held a conversation with her. It started with the news about Frank Minna and then eventually led to him holding her breast in her hands. Because of this encounter I feel like she had some sexual tension with Lionel. Also towards the end of the book she had some sexual tension towards Lionel, however, she would never have sex with him because he was a freak. She said “I’ve wanted you a little bit myself….” A Femme Fatale is supposed to have a sexual attraction to the protagonist which could be shown thru flirtation or a broader range of sexual activities. He also had some sexual tension towards her to because when she moved his hands to her breast “sexual excitement stills {my} Tourette’s brain…..If {he} could have just spent a week or so with my hands on Julia’s breast, then {he} could think straight!”