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Strangers on a Train
- 164 statements
- 31 feature instances
- 3 referencing feature instances
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StrangersOnATrain | |
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Novelist Patricia Highsmith's 1950 debut. While traveling by train, up-and-coming architect Guy Haines is distracted from thoughts of his unhappy marriage (and upcoming ugly divorce) by the awkward friendship-overtures of Idle Rich drunkard Charles Anthony Bruno. Bruno, it turns out, is a Thrill Seeker who thinks he'd like to murder someone some day. While laying out his aspirations to Guy, Bruno comes up with an idea for a Murder Swap.In 1951 Alfred Hitchcock adapted the story into a film with the same title, characters, and initial situation, but a noticeably divergent plot. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_1f250372 | type |
I Need a Freaking Drink | |
Strangers on a Train / int_1f250372 | comment |
I Need a Freaking Drink: Guy plays this straight a few times, in response to Bruno's harassment and his own guilt. On one occasion (after Anne's father engages in some Oblivious Guilt Slinging), Guy defies this trope: Bruno, being The Alcoholic, turns to drink on very slight provocation. But a conventional use of this trope comes when he needs to calm down after killing Miriam. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_373e2b9f | type |
Murder the Hypotenuse | |
Strangers on a Train / int_373e2b9f | comment |
Murder the Hypotenuse: Bruno very briefly considers doing this with Anne — he's immediately surprised at himself because he genuinely likes Anne and promptly puts the thought out of his mind. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_38bf28e3 | type |
Engineered Public Confession | |
Strangers on a Train / int_38bf28e3 | comment |
Engineered Public Confession: A low-key variant. Gerard catches a murderer by guessing that the man is ready to confess to someone, sneaking into his hotel room while he's out, leaving the phone off the hook, and later listening in on the open line while the incriminating conversation happens in the room. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_3b4185fb | type |
Stalker without a Crush | |
Strangers on a Train / int_3b4185fb | comment |
Stalker Without A Crush: Charlie Bruno stalks Guy Haines after murdering his wife, in order to try and make Haines fulfill his end of a Murder Swap he never agreed to. After Guy gives in and commits the other murder, Bruno becomes more like a Stalker with a Crush, continuing to intrude on Guy's personal life just because he feels connected to him. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_3b4185fb | |
Strangers on a Train / int_4efc4fae | type |
Good Scars, Evil Scars | |
Strangers on a Train / int_4efc4fae | comment |
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Zig-zagged. Guy is injured by branches hitting his face when he flees through the woods after being involved in an act of violence. The resulting scars are small and don't harm his appearance, but he thinks of them as if they were a Mark of Shame. It fits with the book's theme of united opposites: they look like good scars but "feel" like evil scars because Guy is simultaneously a sympathetic protagonist and someone who committed a murder in cold blood. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_4efc4fae | |
Strangers on a Train / int_52c0c7cf | type |
Motive Decay | |
Strangers on a Train / int_52c0c7cf | comment |
Motive Decay: Done intentionally. At first, Bruno's harassment of Guy is narrowly focused on getting Guy to hold up his end of the bargain Bruno thinks they made. Subsequent events render that motive irrelevant, and Bruno even tells Guy "I'll never see you again" — but it turns out Bruno is so addicted to Guy's presence that he just can't stay away. Basically, he goes from Stalker Without A Crush to Stalker with a Crush. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_6056f853 | type |
Homoerotic Subtext | |
Strangers on a Train / int_6056f853 | comment |
Homoerotic Subtext: Bruno is Ambiguously Gay and has some kind of fixation on Guy. Guy, meanwhile, regards Bruno with a complex and changeable attitude whose only constant is a sense of loyalty that Guy himself can't explain; at one point his feelings for Bruno are outright described as "love." | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_7286e96d | type |
Idiot Ball | |
Strangers on a Train / int_7286e96d | comment |
Idiot Ball: A fair amount of the drama could have been easily avoided if Guy had just gone to the police after finding out Bruno killed his ex-wife. If Bruno accused him of conspiracy, Guy could mount an easy defense since there was no exchange of money, no evidence of coercion, the two men had never met before and Bruno's father could've easily testified to his son's general instability, which he probably would have done because he believed Bruno needed help. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_79cd85f0 | type |
First Gray Hair | |
Strangers on a Train / int_79cd85f0 | comment |
First Gray Hair: Guy finds his on his eyebrow — which has the effect of reminding the reader of the tiny but shameful scar that's also on his eyebrow, though the narrative never explicitly makes that connection. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_7eebe99c | type |
The Alcoholic | |
Strangers on a Train / int_7eebe99c | comment |
Bruno, being The Alcoholic, turns to drink on very slight provocation. But a conventional use of this trope comes when he needs to calm down after killing Miriam. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_83a8d697 | type |
Oblivious Guilt Slinging | |
Strangers on a Train / int_83a8d697 | comment |
Oblivious Guilt Slinging: A dark example. Anne's father is just talking about hunting when he asks if Guy is "any good with a gun." Guy can't very well admit that he's guilt-ridden and traumatized because of something he did with a gun. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_8950ea66 | type |
"Strangers on a Train"-Plot Murder | |
Strangers on a Train / int_8950ea66 | comment |
"Strangers on a Train"-Plot Murder: invoked Trope Namer and unbuilt example. The murder-swap scheme is 100% Bruno's idea; Guy doesn't agree to it, and he doesn't even try to humor Bruno the way his film counterpart does. But eventually, Bruno's campaign of psychological terrorism wears him down. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_8e20b0f7 | type |
Private Detective | |
Strangers on a Train / int_8e20b0f7 | comment |
Private Detective: Arthur Gerard is a detective who has worked for Charlie Bruno's father in the past. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_97ee273 | type |
Momma's Boy | |
Strangers on a Train / int_97ee273 | comment |
Momma's Boy: Bruno is very close to his mother and delights in her well-preserved good looks. Meanwhile he loathes his father and plots the old man's death. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_9c0dc5cd | type |
Quick Nip | |
Strangers on a Train / int_9c0dc5cd | comment |
Quick Nip: Bruno carries a hip flask. One of the first things he does when he meets Guy is to offer him a drink. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_9cde2df1 | type |
Hand Cannon | |
Strangers on a Train / int_9cde2df1 | comment |
Hand Cannon: Bruno, while trying to pressure Guy to kill for him, gives Guy a Luger. Guy thinks it's ridiculously large and clumsy. He ends up using his own (much smaller) handgun instead. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_9cde2df1 | |
Strangers on a Train / int_a0ee1da5 | type |
Kitsch Collection | |
Strangers on a Train / int_a0ee1da5 | comment |
Kitsch Collection: Charles Bruno's father collects cookie cutters. He never actually makes cookies. | |
Strangers on a Train / int_a0ee1da5 | featureApplicability |
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Strangers on a Train / int_a0ee1da5 | |
Strangers on a Train / int_a7aef9ff | type |
Obfuscating Stupidity | |
Strangers on a Train / int_a7aef9ff | comment |
Obfuscating Stupidity: Gerard, the corn-fed Iowan PI, is very good at what he does, but Bruno has a hard time believing it: | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_a7aef9ff | |
Strangers on a Train / int_c19596a0 | type |
The Bro Code | |
Strangers on a Train / int_c19596a0 | comment |
The Bro Code: Bruno insinuates himself into Guy's social circle by befriending Anne. In a moment of exuberation, he has an urge to kiss her — but decides not to, because she "belong[s] to Guy." | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_c19596a0 | |
Strangers on a Train / int_c3448a6f | type |
Informed Attribute | |
Strangers on a Train / int_c3448a6f | comment |
Informed Attribute: Bruno claims his father is a horrible person, but we have only his word for it. In the novel, the reader knows nothing about Bruno's father right up until Guy kills him, at which point a private detective in Bruno's father's employ tells Bruno that if he honestly thinks his father didn't love him then he really didn't know him at all. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_c8ba12ee | type |
Interplay of Sex and Violence | |
Strangers on a Train / int_c8ba12ee | comment |
He's never been in love with a woman, and (except for right after he kills Miriam) is unenthusiastic about sleeping with them. He "doesn't care too much" about it and has never been able to consider it anything other than "silly business". Whenever he has slept with women he's felt as though he's watching himself the entire time, and once even laughed while it was happening. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_d058677e | type |
Amusement Park | |
Strangers on a Train / int_d058677e | comment |
Amusement Park: Miriam is murdered while on a date at an amusement park. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_d058677e | |
Strangers on a Train / int_d2de1bff | type |
Age Insecurity | |
Strangers on a Train / int_d2de1bff | comment |
Age Insecurity: Bruno has this on his mother's behalf. He's proud of her for looking like a much younger woman, and it upsets him when, after her husband's death, she starts showing her age. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_d39d4b71 | type |
The Perfect Crime | |
Strangers on a Train / int_d39d4b71 | comment |
The Perfect Crime: Subverted and played straight: Bruno thinks his murder of Miriam is a perfect crime, but he actually gets away with it by pure luck in the short term, while leaving a mess of circumstantial evidence that'll come back to bite him later. Another murder in the story actually is well planned, and the murderer gets away undetected even despite some mistakes. It might have gone unsolved if not for some risk-taking in the aftermath: Bruno keeps contacting Guy, and Guy eventually seeks out an opportunity to confess. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_db71d717 | type |
Thanatos Gambit | |
Strangers on a Train / int_db71d717 | comment |
Thanatos Gambit: In the opening chapters, Bruno says that if he ever feels like committing suicide, he'll make sure his worst enemy is framed for it. His actual death doesn't reflect this at all. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_deea2fb5 | type |
Idle Rich | |
Strangers on a Train / int_deea2fb5 | comment |
Idle Rich: Bruno complains about being kept on a financial leash by his father. But he finds time and money to travel around getting drunk in interesting places, all without having to hold down a job. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_e3109dae | type |
Switching P.O.V. | |
Strangers on a Train / int_e3109dae | comment |
Switching P.O.V.: The narrative alternates between Guy's and Bruno's perspectives (and occasionally others). In a few places it "head hops" between them within the same scene, emphasizing the increasing closeness between the two characters and the resulting damage to Guy's sense of self. | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_e34400ab | type |
Ambiguously Gay | |
Strangers on a Train / int_e34400ab | comment |
Ambiguously Gay: Bruno has several hints of this. He's never been in love with a woman, and (except for right after he kills Miriam) is unenthusiastic about sleeping with them. He "doesn't care too much" about it and has never been able to consider it anything other than "silly business". Whenever he has slept with women he's felt as though he's watching himself the entire time, and once even laughed while it was happening. Once, as he daydreams about being interviewed, he explains that he does not hate women and then immediately remembers the maxim that "hate is akin to love." He feels a deep connection to Guy, thinking of him as a "brother" and perhaps a bit more: | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_e8cb930f | type |
Accidental Suicide | |
Strangers on a Train / int_e8cb930f | comment |
Accidental Suicide: Charles Bruno dies by getting drunk and falling out of a sailboat. (This could plausibly be a deliberate suicide, but the possibility isn't followed up on in-story; everyone treats it as an accident.) | |
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Strangers on a Train / int_f912a750 | type |
Immune to Drugs | |
Strangers on a Train / int_f912a750 | comment |
Immune to Drugs: Played for Drama in the second half of the book, when Guy (who's become an increasingly heavy drinker) reflects that it is now "impossible for him to become drunk." This is a realistically downplayed example — he can still feel some effect from alcohol, but drinking too much only makes him sick. | |
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Strangers on a Train | hasFeature |
Stalker without a Crush / int_113ec856 | |
Strangers on a Train | hasFeature |
Switching P.O.V. / int_113ec856 | |
Strangers on a Train | hasFeature |
Thanatos Gambit / int_113ec856 |
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