Charlie vs. Charlie

Uncle Charlie and little Charlie share a lot more than a name in Shadow of a Doubt. From the introduction of each character, to their personalities, they are paralleled throughout the film. The first scene that introduces uncle Charlie is a shot of him laying on the bed, seemingly sad or in deep thought about something. His bedroom door opens and he has a conversation with what appears to be a maid. Similarly, the first shot of little Charlie in the film is her lying down on her bed. Her father comes in to talk to her and she seems to be in a similar depressed thought that uncle Charlie was exhibiting. In addition, following both of these scenes, each character goes to send a telegram to the other one. These paralleled actions were how these characters were introduced and how the viewer gets to see that there is a deeper connection between them both.

This connection continues throughout the film even when little Charlie starts to figure out that uncle Charlie is a killer. Two detectives come to uncle Charlie’s house in the beginning of the film, just as the same two men come to see little Charlie later in the film. These paralleled actions continue when uncle Charlie is reading the newspaper and sees a story about the merry widow murderer. He immediately tries to get rid of the article, but somehow, little Charlie gets the Merry Widow Waltz stuck in her head. This is a unique way of expressing that she is learning more about who uncle Charlie really is. Since they have an unseen connection, she was catching on to his murderous actions without even realizing it. This tune shows up more and more in the film as well. Once little Charlie originally gets the tune in her head, her mom also begins to hum the tune later in the film.

To go further, Hitchcock chose to put in a short, translucent clip of people dancing a waltz to the merry widow waltz a couple times. The first time this clip shows up is right after little Charlie learns that uncle Charlie is really a killer. The addition of this clip helps to express the idea of the two of them having a deeper connection. Because the short clip fades in and out, it sort of resembles what might be in the minds of the characters, namely both the Charlies’. This same waltz scene shows up again at the end of the film after uncle Charlie dies. This is the most important time that it shows up.

The end of the film is what really produces the concept of little Charlie and uncle Charlie being one in the same. As little Charlie has been struggling with this realization that her favorite uncle is a murderer, she still does not tell anybody the truth. In fact, she would rather have uncle Charlie just leave town, rather than see justice as he should. Uncle Charlie, however, has other plans. He is worried that little Charlie will tell the truth about him and he makes several attempts to take care of that problem. His final attempt at killing little Charlie ends badly as she maneuvers out of the way and pushes him into an oncoming train instead. This is when the waltz clip appears again. This time, it signifies little Charlie becoming uncle Charlie. Through all her efforts to get rid of uncle Charlie, she actually got rid of him for good. And in the process, she became what he once was: a murderer.

While the final scene is easily taken as a self-defense move, little Charlie and uncle Charlie had similar timelines throughout the entirety of the film. The ending of the film leaves the viewer with a sense of mystery. While the monster in the film was killed, the audience wonders if a new monster is born now, due to their parallel lives.