Elements of the Theatre of the Absurd in Alfred Hitchcock’s "North by Northwest" (eBook)

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2014 im Fachbereich Anglistik - Sonstiges, Note: 1,7, Universität Hamburg (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik), Veranstaltung: Advanced Methods of Literary and Cultural Analysis, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Alfred Hitchcock’s film "North by Northwest" serves as an example for a film largely lacking logical sense. It instead consists of a wide range of absurdities. The purpose of this paper is not only to review how the protagonist Roger Thornhill copes with this lack of a logical frame of reference, but also how this recurring confrontation with the absurd in daily life is absolutely crucial in order for both the protagonist’s and the spectator to genuinely engage with one’s inner fears and desires.

Human beings are used to constantly make sense of things. If logic is somehow endangered, the mind is forced to re-adjust again. This allows for a new process of evaluation which is necessary in order to be able to cope with life’s incongruities. Despite the fact that logic is widely encouraged in our Western world, it often keeps us from realising what there still is when logic ends. The definition of the absurd as something "completely stupid or unreasonable" (Longman s.v. “absurd”) makes it the perfect counterpart to logic.