The Controlling Gaze in Hitchcock's "Rear Window"

Throughout the entire film Jeff is seen as having the controlling gaze into Thorwald's apartment. He sits next to his window confined to his wheelchair in the safety of his apartment while he observes all his neighbors from across the courtyard. Jeff makes up his own narratives for his neighbors even though in reality he has no idea what is actually going on in their lives. He accuses Thorwald of murdering his wife even though he has no idea whether or not he actually did it. Jeff's controlling gaze into Thorwald's apartment controls most of the films narrative as the viewer gets more and more suspicious of Thorwald based on Jeff's perception of him. The viewers can only see what Jeff see's as the movie is told exclusively from his point-of-view. Jeff's gaze controls the viewers perception of Thorwald as well as well as the story occurring within Thorwald's apartment. Jeff's controlling gaze reaches its breaking point when Lisa enters Thorwald's apartment. At this point Jeff loses control as he cannot tell Lisa what to do once she enters Thorwald's apartment. Once Thorwald discovers Lisa in his apartment Thorwald returns Jeff's gaze by looking into Jeff's apartment. The controlling gaze is no longer Jeff's as Thorwald takes that position over by wondering what Jeff's motive is for spying on him. A barrier is broken when Thorwald enters Jeff's apartment to confront him about his spying and Lisa's intrusion. This is a surreal moment for the viewer as Thorwald enters Jeff's safety zone and the point-of-view shifts to Thorwald. Two narratives that were kept separate collide at this moment as the controlling gaze reaches the climax and Thorwald throws Jeff out the window. This brings the story to an abrupt end as Jeff is thrown out of his safety zone and the narrative that he has constructed.