Alfred Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt” is a film noir which journeys through the tale of Charlie Oakley and his endeavors while staying at his older sister’s house in Santa Rosa, California. Little does everyone know that Charlie is not the man he is made up to be. Throughout the film there is a heavy influence of symbolism which can be easily overlooked. Two of the most important symbols are the hand of cards played by the doctor on the train and the character of Herbie Hawkins.
In the film, when Charlie is going to visit his sister Emma, Charlie pretends to be ill so that he does not have to come in contact with any other train passengers. During this scene it shows a group of three people playing what is assumed to be bridge or another card game close to it. The passengers playing are bickering at the Doctor about helping Charlie with his illness. Luckily for Charlie, the doctor refuses saying that he is on his vacation for a reason. There is then a shot of a hand of cards, all Spades, a full house. The best hand you can get. This scene serves as a very important symbol for Charlie Oakley. Just like the people playing, Charlie seems to have the best hand over his family. They have no clue about his other life “in the east.” The cards are important because just like everyone on the train, Charlie has everyone fooled, including his family he is soon to be staying with. Another way this can be interpreted is that he is on his last hand. With a hand of cards like that, the game would be over once played. Just like Charlie, this trip to Santa Rosa is his last hand, and once it is played the game will be over. As we can see, Charlie never really does get to leave Santa Rosa because of his death after falling out of the moving train car.
Herbie Hawkins unseeingly is an important character because he is at the opposite end of the spectrum that Charlie Oakley is. Herbie, like Charlie is somewhat obsessed with the idea of murder. Throughout the film Joe and Herbie discuss different methods and ways to kill people and how to not get caught. Herbie’s character, unlike Charlie’s, does not actually murder people. In fact Herbie saves young Charlie’s life from the garage when it was filling with car exhaust. The symbolism here is not only that Herbie’s character is supposed to represent a man who is also obsessed with murder but does not actually murder people, but that Herbie foreshadows how Charlie will die. Herbie, throughout the movie would tell Joe that he would kill people and make it look like an accident so that he would not get caught. Young Charlie, when thrusting away from Uncle Charlie, causes Uncle Charlie to slip out the train door and into an oncoming train. Herbie is opposite man of Charlie, very soft-spoken and always appearing at the wrong time. Whereas Charlie seemed to have showed up at the perfect time and seems to enthrall everyone in the family as well as in Santa Cruz. Herbie’s character is important because he portrays the more common type man that Charlie could have been. is easily overlooked do to his quietness and almost humorous attitude and personality.
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