Relationships

Many of the characters in Rear Window feel lonely over the course of the film, often in their most private moments. Hitchcock emphasizes the separation between the people, the detachment they feel in their relationships by confining them to their own spaces. They are all together in this courtyard, but they rarely have any kind of significant interaction. Even when Mrs. Thorwald is alive, Hitchcock frames her and Mr. Thorwald in different windows, separating them from each other. The woman with the hearing aid, though probably the person who moves around the courtyard the most, is spending her time making a sculpture of a human torso with a hole in the middle called "Hunger". Miss Lonelyhearts is the most obvious example of loneliness, while Miss Torso doesn't have a single sincere companion until her beau comes home from war in the last few moments of the film. Most importantly, Jeff's emotional distance from Lisa clearly makes him lonely as well. He cannot commit to her, nor can he bear to let her go. And yet, besides Lisa, he has nobody to talk to other than his editor, Stella (who is being paid to come to his apartment), and Doyle (a friend with his own family with whom Jeff constantly argues). Ultimately, Rear Window encourages viewers to interact with their neighbors instead of keeping them at arm - or camera's - length.