Physical and Emotional Immobility: Parallel Characteristics in 'Rear Window' Anonymous 12th Grade

In Alfred Hitchcock’s enthralling film, Rear Window, set in Manhattan, New York in the 1950s, Hitchcock draws attention to the way physical immobility is simply an echo of emotional immobility as represented by the protagonist, L.B. Jefferies. Jeff’s confinement to his wheelchair in his apartment initially reflects his emotional confinement to the events happening around him. He is thought to be trapped by his attitudes and values such as his outlook on marriage and commitment to Lisa, but his character seems to progress as the film goes on. Jeff experiences a drastic change as he learns to adjust to Lisa’s ‘new’ behaviour and willingness to change herself for him to prove her faithfulness to him.

In the beginning of the film, Jeff is confined in his apartment to his wheelchair. He is physically immobilised because of his job as a freelance photo journalist. As a result of this, Jeff finds liberation in looking out of his apartment’s rear window, a technique used by Hitchcock as a subtext to the audience that he is shifting his gaze from troubles he is currently experiencing, such as the constant nagging from those around him about marriage, to the issues of his neighbours.

Jeff’s inability to grow emotionally and to have a...