“Neighbours like each other, speak to each other, care if anybody lives of dies.

” ‘Rear Window’
presents a bleak view of people’s ability to care for one another.

We consider it an essential part of life, forming relationships, but in a world that encourages
suspicion, this is not always easy. Alfred Hitchcock explores this notion in his 1954 cinematic classic
‘Rear Window’. He clearly insinuates that while it is difficult to show that you care for others, it isn’t
impossible to do so, shining a ray of hope on what might initially appear a bleak view of 1950’sw
American society.

In a world where neighbours were encouraged to spy on each other, it is basically impossible to
“speak for each other”. This is clearly reflected in the physical and emotional barrier that prevent the
neighbours from interacting with each other in the Greenwick apartment block. Hitchcock sets this
up through his innovative set design, using ladders and walls to separate everyone from each other.
The level of Jeff’s apartment shows how he is in the middle of the apartment dwellers and can see
anything that moves in the complex, highlighting the power that he has by being situated within the
perfect apartment window to watch everyone. Even the gaze of the other characters remains
focused inwards, showing the lack of care they have for their surrounding community in the
complex. Characters such as Miss Lonelyhearts and Miss Torso look out their windows, not to watch
others but to reflect on their own lives. The Newlyweds are another example of being closed off to
their neighbours as for most of the film they have their blinds down, shutting themselves off from
the world and hiding within their apartment, living their own lives and ignoring their fellow
apartment goers, proving their lack of care is absent as they are new and not welcomed. Hitchcock is
clearly critiquing the world of McCarthy America which prevented the people to communicate and
get to know one another due to the fear of judgement, making it hard to connect with nearby
strangers. The fear of judgement prevents the characters to bond with their neighbours which shows
their limited ability to care and connect in any meaningful way with the people around them.

At multiple points in the film, some characters able themselves to show sympathy for others through
the investigation of the murder. Lisa’s sophisticated candle lit dinner for Jeff is a way to show her
ability to appreciate and care for him yet the mirror image of Miss Lonelyhearts own candlelit dining
setting mocks the spacing between Jeff and Lisa, with Jeff sympathising with Miss Lonelyhearts by
raising his glass to her, showing that he understands her loneliness even though he is by Lisa’s side.