“Her lips stuck out in a way that made me want to mash them in for her.”

Frank’s description of Cora the first time he sees her is blunt and charged with sexual and violent energy, which is indicative both of Cain’s writing style and Frank’s character.

“She was snarling like a cougar. I liked her like that.”

Cats are a recurring symbol throughout the novel. Frank often refers to Cora as a cat, or describes her like one, because he wants to see her as the quintessential femme fatale—slinky, seductive, and dangerous.

“To me, you look more like a hell cat.”

When Cora tells Frank that Nick calls her “a little white bird,” Frank responds by calling her something violent and spiteful. Cora denies this at first, but then she admits that she might be. If she is, she claims it is because she has been driven to behaving that way by her circumstances. Frank senses Cora’s unhappiness in feeling like Nick’s precious pet.