Justice In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

In crime writing, composers not only scrutinise justice but also experiment with textual forms and features in response to different contexts

In Rear Window (Hitchcock 1954) Hitchcock scrutinises justice through the actions by the detective in solving the crime, which causes the audience to question certain ethics during the context of the film. However, through the use of various forms of textual features, Hitchcock enables the audience to empathise with the characters in the film and try to convince them that justice is done.

Hitchcock introduces a different approach in solving the crime from the conventions of the Golden Age, as a result of the tense and rising suspicions from the Cold War and McCarthyism within American at that time.
This is shown through the murder of the innocent dog, whereby as the audience we know it is Thorwald's doing as the dog was getting close to unravelling evidence hidden in the garden bed. This is because Hitchcock utilises the point of view editing in the previous scene where Thorwald becomes aware of the dog's interest in digging up the garden bed. During this event, Hitchcock cuts to Jeff's POV shot of Thorwald shooing away the dog, and cuts back to Jeff's expression of suspicion. Therefore, the use of the murdered dog allows the responder to sympathise with the owners, and slightly disregard the unethical nature of Jeff's voyeurism. At the end of the film where Thorwald confronts Jeff, Jeff's further injury by breaking his other leg also suggests that the unethical nature of spying on his neighbours in order to solve the crime comes at a price, which enables the responder to empathise with Jeff's pain and immobility and ultimately reach a sense of justice as Jeff has also suffered for his unethical
The use of the female intuition shown through Lisa's comment “And the last thing she'd leave behind would be her wedding ring!” emphasises the importance in the role of women, as she later became a physical extension of Jeff by gathering the physical evidence whereby the crippled detective couldn't. Hitchcock reinforces the importance in the role of women in the film as a contrast to the late First Wave Feminism movement of the 1950s. This is also shown through Stella's comment “... the economic crash... I predicted it” emphasising the change in the nature of women becoming more knowledgeable and also capable of becoming thinkers. However, Doyle's approach to the incident is fairly sceptical and becomes the main source of the red herring, as he doubts Jeff's claim due to a basis of unethical spying and lack of physical evidence. His scepticism is shown through his statement “It'll wear off in time along with the hallucinations”. But, through the use of Lisa's feminine intuition, it is what ultimately drives Jeff into continuing his investigation and solving the crime. This is shown through Lisa intruding inside Thorwald's apartment in order to obtain the evidence of the wedding ring. This was significant in showing the increasing role of women in society, as Jeff finally begins to show a true sense of anxiety and passion for Lisa “Lisa what are you