Hitchcock: strangers on a train

Essay by dickface101High School, 12th grade February 2005

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Who Isn't a Murderer?

Hitchcock tries to use Strangers on a Train to tell us that everyone has a murderer within them. He shows us characters with different levels of the desire to kill. There is Bruno, Guy, and other characters, who represent society, and its desire to kill someone. Bruno, while an obvious murderer, is the most honest with his intentions. He tells Guy of his desire to kill his father and even tries to switch murders with him. While Bruno is very upfront with his feelings, other characters, such as Guy have very concealed feelings. What is interesting is that they have the same feelings.

Hitchcock tries to show us that execution is a major difference between people. For example, take Bruno and Guy. Bruno says at the beginning of the movie "I like people who do things." Bruno is Guy's doppelganger, or double, who has similar intentions then Guy, but simply goes through with them.

Although Guy did not intend on killing Miriam, he did say he could strangle her. Bruno separated himself by going out and executing the action.

Bruno talks to two old ladies at the party about offing their husbands. While they are merely old ladies that appear harmless, they do agree that they sometimes wish to kill their husbands. Here Hitchcock shows that everyone can have murderous intentions, even old ladies. What Hitchcock wants us to contemplate, is that everyone can be dangerous. We should consider whether the person is willing to execute the task at hand. The question becomes, are you the next task?