Hitchcockian 'doubling'


Alfred Hitchcock's films often included complex examples of "doubling", where two characters would have a symbiotic effect upon each other, often being two parts of a larger reality. One can mention the two Charlies in Shadow of a Doubt, Guy and Bruno in Strangers on a Train, Jeff and Thorwald in Rear Window, Roger O. (for nothing) Thornhill and “Kaplan” in North by Northwest, and others.

There have been discussions on the Raising Arizona board about a similar connection between H.I. and Leonard Smalls, in that in many ways the former created the latter out of his own subconscious. There is much to say about that reading, and it’s interesting to see how the motif exists in other films they’ve made. I don’t want to push the matter by making absurd claims for every character pair, but there is a case to be made for:

Barton and Charlie in Barton Fink
Sidney J. Mussburger and his proxy in The Hudsucker Proxy
Larry and his brother in A Serious Man

The last example isn't always mentioned, but central, I feel, to the film. Both are lost souls, using mathematics in a useless search for certainty, only one brother works in a socially accepted (and paying) manner, while the other works outside the pale. It seems that seeing Larry and Uncle Arthur as two sides of the same character, in the thematic sense of the word, is central to the film.

Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul

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It's been a while with no responses to this.

I hoped for a discussion.

Don't lend your hand to raise no flag atop no ship of fools.

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There's certainly a case to be made with what you said. Something that sticks out to me is how it seems Larry projects his desire to find freedom by helping brother get to Canada in his dream.

I'm more curious with what you think it all means though, the relationship between the brothers. And what did you get out of it emotionally? It personally left me with this weird idea that no matter what happens to Larry, he could always go back to loving his brother. It's the only thing that really gave him much joy. It's a rather simplistic idea, but elegantly stated by the Coen brothers I think. As well, I feel they do a nice job in showing the moralistic grey in these more common ideas.

Anyway, I'm happy to continue the discussion you want to!

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[deleted]

I like that point, esp. seeing that the film makers are brothers.

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If Arthur’d only stayed out of the “North Dakota” Larry wouldn’t have felt compelled to change Clive’s grade due to the outrageous legal fees, setting off the cataclysmic events of the finale.

This is interesting.

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