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Patricia Highsmith on Screen pp 43–60Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

“I Meet a Lot of Guys—But Not Many Like You”: Strangers and Types in Highsmith’s and Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train

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Abstract

Patricia Highsmith and Alfred Hitchcock were kindred spirits in more than their mastery of suspense. This chapter examines a shared fascination with one of the definitive experiences of modernity: how modern life means co-existing with a mass of strangers who have alternative or mysterious motivations and personalities, and the effect this has on one’s perception of oneself, others, and the social world. Strangers on a Train’s basic premise enables Highsmith and Hitchcock to offer their contributions to the modernist tradition of exploring the thrills and dangers of urban modernity. The chapter considers how both of their versions explore two related ideas: how to understand the modern stranger in the age of mass travel and communications, and whether or not this understanding can be enhanced by grouping individual strangers into recognizable ‘types’, especially criminal or sexual categories.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

    Bran Nicol

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  1. Bran Nicol
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Correspondence to Bran Nicol .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Wieland Schwanebeck

  2. Flagler College, St. Augustine, FL, USA

    Douglas McFarland

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Nicol, B. (2018). “I Meet a Lot of Guys—But Not Many Like You”: Strangers and Types in Highsmith’s and Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. In: Schwanebeck, W., McFarland, D. (eds) Patricia Highsmith on Screen. Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96050-0_3

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