the mark of Cain

the mark of Cain

An association of disgrace or public disapproval over some crime, wrongdoing, personal failing, or controversial action. An allusion to the Biblical figure Cain, the eldest of Adam and Eve's sons, who murdered his brother Abel out of jealousy and was then cursed by God. I wonder is it appropriate that she still bear the mark of Cain for something she did when she was but a teenager. The judge argued that issuing a lengthier sentence would have been a mark of Cain on an otherwise upstanding and motivated student.
See also: Cain, mark, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

the mark of Cain

the stigma of a murderer; a sign of infamy.
According to the book of Genesis, God placed a mark on Cain after the murder of his brother Abel, originally as a sign that he should not be killed or harmed; this was later taken to identify him as a murderer (Genesis 4:15).
See also: Cain, mark, of
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • (as) poor as a Job's turkey
  • (as) old as Methuselah
  • kiss of death
  • kiss of death, a/the
  • the kiss of death
  • end run
  • an end run
  • end game
  • a security blanket
  • game is not worth the candle, the
References in periodicals archive
When the group home supervisor denied their custody application, Castiel decided to break Claire out of the group home that he calls "child prison." At the Men of Letters bunker, Dean spends his free time eating and watching "The Three Stooges" with Sam, who notices the Mark of Cain on his brother's arm.
In an interview with (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/supernaturals-misha-collins-castiel-is-753785) The Hollywood Reporter , the 40-year-old actor teased that Castiel will become busy when "Supernatural" Season 10 returns from its holiday break as he deals with the Mark of Cain on Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) and Claire, the daughter of his vessel Jimmy Novak.
Both Sula and Sethe must embrace and even, finally, celebrate the mark of Cain which sets each apart but which also makes each unique--and so must their communities.
(Courtesy of Harvard University's Marshall Goldman we learned that "because of the large birthmark on his forehead, it was whispered that Gorbachev had been cursed by the devil and branded with the mark of Cain.') This kind of approach can be taken to ludicrous extremes.
Such an anodyne reading makes it possible for Tusken to see virtually all of Hesse's later protagonists as also bearing the mark of Cain without making explicit the differences between them and Cain, as revalued through the doctrine of Der Antichrist.
Blood was needed from the political echelon, someone to bear the blame for what had happened." And when the Kahan Commission rendered its verdict that Sharon bore "indirect responsibility" for the massacre and suggested that Begin fire him, Sharon warned, "If you accept the conclusions of the Kahan Commission, you will be branding the mark of Cain on the foreheads of the Jewish people and on the State of Israel with your own hands." Even Begin gets the back of his hand.
Weaving their tales together, often using the same phrases in unison, Terri experiences salvation while Geordi receives the mark of Cain. In Terri and Geordi, Schenkkan has created characters who deserve a good life in the American theatre, who prepare the way for what Evenden calls a "different, unexpected holiness." Perhaps their grace and strength can carry this ambitious, ungainly, beautiful monster of a play to further productions.
Then there is a tale of a repentant sinner (Leviticus 18:9) with a subtle invocation of biblical texts like the mark of Cain and a red heifer.
Ovid prescribed for ladies: "Nor should they strain their sides with continuous laughter, but laugh with a feminine trill."(35) Erasmus would censure immoderate laughter in his comment on the adage risus syncreusus or "shaking with laughter" as "highly unsuitable for a man of character because it is clearly the expression of a mind which has lost control."(36) Control of bodily instability was a Renaissance rule of manners, reflecting ancient equations of shaking with insanity or evil, reverting to spasms as the mark of Cain.(37)
He made dances for "The Seven Lively Arts," "The Bell Telephone Hour," "The Kate Smith Show," "54th Street Revue," "The Steve Allen Show," and "The Ed Sullivan Show." For more than a decade he produced choreography for the Sunday morning staples "Lamp Unto My Feet" and "Look Up and Live." Such works as The Parliament of Heaven, Brief Dynasty, and The Mark of Cain were typical.
For example, the Mark of Cain merits two entries: One under "Cain" with a paraphrase of the Cain story in Genesis, and one under "Cain, Mark of" with the appropriate biblical quote.
The line in which the reference appears also conflates Christians and Negroes, making the mark of Cain a reference to any who are unredeemed.
He also told me that "nigras" bore the mark of Cain and were destined to servitude by the will and act of God almighty.
Reid Meloy (Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University California, San Diego) The Mark Of Cain: Psychoanalytic Insight And The Psychopath brings under one cover an impressive collection of the most historically important psychoanalytic papers on the psychopathic personality.
In similar fashion, Orr explores the meaning of the mark of Cain, which, in its dark way, sustained him through the first years after the accident.