The Bad Seed is a 1954 novel by William March, nominated for the 1955 National Book Award for Fiction. It was the last major work written by March, and, although published in his lifetime, its enormous critical and commercial success was largely realized after his death, one month after publication. The novel was adapted into a successful and long-running Broadway play by Maxwell Anderson and an Academy Award-nominated film directed by Mervyn Leroy.
Plot summary
Eight-year-old Rhoda is the only child of Kenneth and Christine Penmark. Kenneth Penmark goes away on business, leaving Christine and Rhoda at home. Christine begins to notice that Rhoda is acting strangely after one of her classmates mysteriously drowns, and eventually makes a horrible discovery: Rhoda killed the boy, and will almost certainly kill again.
Character list
Major characters
Rhoda Penmark – Rhoda is portrayed as a sociopath, although the term was not widely used at the time. Like her grandmother, she has no conscience and will kill if necessary to get whatever she wants. By the time Christine, her mother, puts the truth together, Rhoda has already killed two people (a neighbor in Baltimore, and her classmate Claude Daigle). In time, she also kills Leroy, the apartment building's gardener and the only adult who sees through her. An adept manipulator, she can easily charm adults while eliciting fear and repulsion from other children, who can sense something wrong with her.
Christine Penmark – The mother of Rhoda Penmark. She is the only person in the novel who knows that Rhoda is a sociopath. Christine slowly pieces together that Rhoda had killed Claude Daigle throughout the novel. She writes letters to her husband about her worries and discovery of Rhoda true personality, but in the end disposes of them. Christine is described as beautiful. She has Nordic feminine features that are traced to her biological father. Richard Bravo adopted Christine. She has suspected being adopted since her late teenage years, but did not pursue the idea in fear of upsetting her adopted parents. Christine’s biological mother is Bessie Denker, an infamous sociopath who killed everyone in her family with the exception of Christine. In the end, Christine attempts to kill Rhoda by giving her sleeping pills and then shoots herself with the revolver.
Monica Breedlove – The Penmarks’ landlord. She considers herself to be somewhat of a psychotherapist and claims she had been examined by Sigmund Freud. She is very social and holds many parties. Monica adores Rhoda and believes her to be a very extraordinary child. She gives Rhoda a locket she received when she was eight and a pair of sunglasses with a case. Monica is the closest friend Christine has. Monica knows that Christine is upset and suspects she is either terminally ill, or that her marriage with Kenneth is under strain. She never discovers the truth about Rhoda and is ultimately upset and befuddled as to why Christine would commit suicide. The sleeping pills Christine used in an attempt to murder Rhoda were given to her by Monica.
Reginald Tasker- A writer and friend of Monica Breedlove. He provides Christine with information about Bessie Denker. He is friends with and fairly attracted to Christine. He informs Christine that her supposed father, Richard Bravo, worked diligently on the Bessie Denker case. Regindald Tasker also makes mention that Bessie Denker's youngest daughter was the only one who survived from the family.
Leroy Jessup – The maintenance man who works for Monica Breedlove. He is the only adult character, other than Christine, to notice that Rhoda is unlike other children and constantly taunts her. Leroy tells Rhoda that blood cannot wash off with water. Rhoda only reacts to Leroy’s taunting when he claims to have the shoes with which she killed Claude Daigle. Leroy refuses to return the shoes to Rhoda, and when the realization sets in that she actually did kill Claude, he denies ever having them. Shortly after, Leroy is burnt to death on his makeshift bed in the garage.
Claude Daigle – The little boy whom Rhoda drowned the day of the Fern Grammar School picnic. He won the Penmanship medal that Rhoda declared to be hers. He is described as a timid and shy boy who rarely stood up to others. He was the only child of Hortense and Dwight Daigle. Rhoda murdered Claude because he would not give her the penmanship medal. File:Belle Gunness with children.jpg Belle Gunness; female serial murderer Bessie Denker was based on
Bessie Denker – A well-known (fictional) serial killer. She is the biological mother of Christine Penmark and the grandmother of Rhoda Penmark. Christine faintly remembers living with her biological family and escaping from her mother. Bessie Denker never makes a physical appearance in the novel. The character's life and murderous history is thoroughly described in the notes of Reginald Tasker. Bessie Denker's career is based very roughly on the real-life careers of Belle Gunness and other such black widows. The description of her execution in the electric chair is based on that of Ruth Snyder.
Minor characters
Kenneth Penmark – The father of Rhoda and husband of Christine. Kenneth is already away on business when the novel begins and he does not return until the very end, after his wife's suicide. Kenneth never discovers the truth about Rhoda or the reasoning behind Christine's suicide and attempted murder of Rhoda.
Emory Wages – Monica Breedlove's brother, who lives with his sister. He flirts with Christine at different social gatherings.
Claudia Fern – The Fern sister that reprimands Rhoda for harassing Claude the day of the picnic. She describes the events the day of the picnic to Christine along with her two other sisters, and she informs Christine that her sisters and she do not wish to have Rhoda attend their school the following year.
Octavia Fern – Fern sister who explains to Christine why the sisters did not ask the Penmarks to donate money for a flower arrangement to be presented at Claude’s funeral.
Burgess Fern – Fern sister in charge of enrollment at the Fern School. She would not hold the penmanship medal for Claude Daigle the day of the Fern Grammar School picnic.
Richard Bravo – Christine's adopted father, who was killed in an airplane crash during World War II. He was a well-known columnist and war correspondent, performing great research in the "Bessie Denker" case. He never told Christine she was adopted or that Bessie Denker was her biological mother.
Hortense Daigle – Mother of Claude Daigle. She is a plain large woman who believes that the Fern sisters look down on her for being a hairdresser and marrying late. She is extremely distraught over her son’s death and turns to alcohol as a source of comfort. She knows that Rhoda had something to do with Claude’s death and seeks her out to find answers.
Dwight Daigle – Father of Claude Daigle. He tries to help his wife, Hortense Daigle, and keep her under control as she suffers from the death of their son.
Thelma
Mrs. Forsythe – She is an elderly woman who, towards the end of the novel, baby-sits Rhoda. Rhoda never harms Mrs. Forsythe because she does not have anything Rhoda wants.
Belle Blackwell – Teacher of the Sunday school Rhoda attends who gives Rhoda a copy of Elsie Dinsmore.
Clara Post – The old woman who lived with the Penmarks and her daughter, Edna, in the same apartment house in Baltimore. She befriended Rhoda and believed her to be truly delightful. She promised Rhoda that when she died Rhoda could have.
Edna – She is the widowed daughter of Mrs. Clara Post. She lives with her mother in the same apartment house in Baltimore as the Penmarks. Her mother died the day she left to go to the supermarket. Edna was skeptical of Rhoda's story of her mother's accidental death. She did not invite the Penmarks to the funeral or speak to them after the incident.
Primary Theme
Nature vs. Nurture
In the decade the novel was published, juvenile delinquency, although not as prevalent as seen in present society, began to be far more common, and or extensively reported and documented. Compared to earlier history, the idea of child crimes was a new phenomenon. The nature-nurture controversy was a psychiatric proposal to explain the increase in and motive behind juvenile delinquency . Supporters of the “nature” side suggested that a key component of the "nature" side was that some people are born evil. There is great implication to the theory that the majority of people are not born evil or with malicious tendencies. The idea that nature prevails over nurture is implied in The Bad Seed.William March incorporates the notion that a murderous trait is being passed down through the generations; within the plot of the story. Rhoda is a serial murder just like her grandmother. Rhoda has inherited the murderous gene that has been passed down from her grandmother. Rhoda had been brought up as a privileged child; She was nurtured emotionally and physically. Rhoda was in no way presented as being "nurtured" into a sociopath. Reginald Tasker hints and suggests at the idea of nature taking effect when he quotes that "some people are just born evil", when discussing Bessie Denker with Christine. Ultimately, William March creates a story where nature is the reasoning behind why Rhoda Penmark is a sociopath.
Reviews of the Novel
James Kelly, New York Times "Let it be said quickly: William March knows where human fears and secrets are buried. He announced it in Company K, a novel published twenty years ago and equaled only by Dos Passos' Three Soldiers as a sampling of men at war. He has proved it again and again in the other novels and short stories, all of them floored and walled in what [[Clinton Fadiman decided to call "Psychological acumen". But nowhere is this gift better displayed than in The Bad Seed – the portrayal of a coldly evil, murderous child and what she does to both victims and family. In the author's hands this is adequate material for an absolutely first class novel of moral bewilderments and responsibilities nearest the heart of our decade."[1]
Dan Wickenden, New York Herald Tribune "Dark, original, ultimately appalling, William March's extraordinary new novel is, on the obvious level, a straightforward, technically accomplished story of suspense. The manner of its telling – the dispassionate, exact, almost starched prose, with its occasional glints of sardonic humor – is an impressive achievement in itself. I lends some credibility to a narrative against which the imagination rebels; and towards the end, as horror is piled upon horror, it saves the book from falling headlong into absurdity... This is a novel bound to arouse strong responses, to generate vehement discussion, and so not easily to be forgotten."[2]
Agust Derleth, Chicago Sunday Tribune The Bad Seed would have been a stronger novel without this false premise – the granddaughter of a murderess is no more likely to be a murderess than the granddaughter of a seamstress, or anyone else. Apart from this flaw, however, The Bad Seed is a novel of suspense and mounting horror, which the reader who can close his eyes to March's unnecessary premise will enjoy as the work of one of the most satisfying of American novelists."[3]
L.A.G. Strong, The Spectator (UK) "The Bad Seed is terrifyingly good, not only because its theme is worked out so powerfully, but becasue every character is convincing. One has to believe that these appalling things took place exactly as the author says they did."[4]
Adaptations
Broadway play
Maxwell Anderson, adapted The Bad Seed into a play
Maxwell Anderson adapted the book for the stage almost immediately after its publication. Anderson, previous to producing The Bad Seed had won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1935 and 1936 for his plays Winterset and High Tor. Other awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1933 for his play Both Your Houses. Reginald Denham directed the play using Anderson's script. The play debuted on December 8, 1954. The opening performance took place at 46th Street Theatre on Broadway. Anderson's play debuted less than a year after the publication of the novel. The play eventually moved from Broadway to Coronet. The Bad Seed ran for a total of 334 performances. The play was a large success. Nancy Kelly, the actress who played Christine, won the 1955 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The audience made claims that Patty McCormack, the child actress who played Rhoda, was the most memorable character.[5]
Mervyn LeRoy was the director of the 1956 movie. In LeRoy's Hollywood career, he produced and or directed over 70 films including Home Before Dark, and Little Woman. Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack and the majority of the original cast acted in the 1956 movie. Unfortunately, unlike the play and the book, the movie was not a high success. Most audiences found it to be frightening and melodramatic. The ending of the 1956 film was changed from the novel in order to comply with the Hays Code. Rhoda is struck and killed abruptly by lightning when she goes back to the scene of her crime to retrieve the medal, while Christine survives her suicide attempt. During the closing credits LeRoy added a light hearted sequence of Nancy Kelly, Christine, holding Patty McCormack, Rhoda, over her leg and spanking her possible to remind audiences that this is just a play.[6]
1985 film
Paul Wendkos directed the 1985 television adaptation of The Bad Seed. The 1985 television movie kept the novel's original ending. The Bad Seed was remade for television in 1985, adapted by George Eckstein and directed by Paul Wendkos. It starred Blair Brown, Lynn Redgrave, David Carradine, Richard Kiley, and Chad Allen. The TV-movie version was considered inferior to both the play and original film. The majority of the cast and crew are relatively unknown.[7]
Eli Roth was set to direct a new remake of the film, as stated by MovieWeb.com. Roth promised a new take with a modern horror sensibility. "The original was a great psychologicalthriller, and we are going to bastardize and exploit it, ramping up the body counts and killings," said Roth. "This is going to be scary, bloody fun, and we're going to create the next horror icon, a la Freddy, Jason and Chucky. She's this cunning, adorable kid who loves to kill, but also loves 'N Sync."[8]
