The Power of Voyeurism in “Rear Window” Through the experience of a man named Hal Jeffries, “Rear Window”, depicts the different factors leading to voyeurism. The short story’s author, Cornell Woolrich, exposes Jeffries’ simple curiosity to spy on his neighbors from his bedroom window and “constructed a time table of their coming and going…” (Woolrich 67). However, it slowly progresses into an obsession, especially when he is convinced he witnessed a murder. Jefferies sets out to unveil the truth of his murderous neighbor and leads the readers in a mental process to convince them so. Different factors, such as isolation and curiosity, kindled voyeurism within Jefferies. However, Woolrich magnifies the empowerment Jeffries experiences through voyeurism, which mirrors McCarthyism that dominated late 1940’s through the 1950’s. McCartherism was a movement in which “political and cultural fears converged” of many …show more content…
In the article “Booting a Tramp: Charlie Chaplin, the FBI, and the Construction of the Subversive Image in Red Scare America, it described an unfortunate actor’s fate against communism: “The “evidence” against Chaplin was not fabricated, although his adversaries relied on truths and half-truths, twisting contexts to put words and deeds in the worst possible light” (Sbardellati 497). Groucho Marx, known as a famous icon- Charlie Chapman, was falsely accused of being affiliated with communism. In the same way, Jefferies accused his neighbor, Thorwald, of murder without having the sufficient evidence. Jefferies called his friend, Inspector Boyone. But to Jefferies dismay, Boyone explained, “Give it up, Jeff…There’s such thing as going to far” (Woolrich 82). Jefferies nevertheless was persistent to make his own investigations and refused to surrender to Boyone’s skepticism despite there was never a clear-cut piece of evidence against his