critical analysis of hitchcock's shadow of doubt

Young Charlie and Guy both face inner conflict, their inner conflicts will also be discussed later as the characters are discussed.

Inner conflict typically has to do with wrong and right, good versus evil.

Doubles or doppelgangers also represent “strong inner conflict” (Spoto, 1992, p. This is true for Young Charlie and Guy and will be discussed later in the paper as the doppelgangers in each film are explained in more detail. The doppelganger both haunts and illuminates a person (Spoto, 1992), bringing out the good and the bad in them. The two men meet at the fairground by the carousel, a fight ensues and Bruno gets crushed as Guy is flung off to the side.ĭoubles or doppelgangers represent the dual nature of man the good and the evil that all humans possess. Even with Bruno’s pestering Guy still refuses to kill Bruno’s father. After Bruno kills Miriam he starts pressuring Guy to do his murder he calls, stops by the senate-house, and the tennis courts. Bruno will kill Miriam, Guy’s wife, and Guy will kill Bruno’s father. In the film two strangers, Guy and Bruno, meet on a train and agree to swap murders. Hitchcock film Strangers on a Train (1951) is filled with doubles too. Young Charlie keeps her uncle’s secret from her family, even after his death. Young Charlie becomes less excited, more suspicious of people, and darker when she learns her uncle’s real identity. Uncle Charlie’s visit is at first very exciting to Young Charlie, but as his stay progresses Young Charlie changes. There he visits his sister’s family and changes his niece, Young Charlie. Shadow of a Doubt (1943) follows a widow murderer - a man who marries rich widows for their money and kills them - Charles Oakley, who goes to Santa Rosa California to escape the cops in Philadelphia who are looking for him (Spoto, 1992).

The main characters in both films are doubles or doppelgangers, however the main characters are not the only things that are doubled in these two films sometimes scenes or locations are doubled as well. This paper will concentrate on two of Hitchcock’s films where the use of doubles and doppelgangers are prominent Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and Strangers on a Train (1951). The concept of doubles and doppelgangers is prominent in many of Hitchcock’s films.

Critical analysis of hitchcock's shadow of doubt