Hitchcock's use of the Milk motif is by no means as sophisticated as his use of the cigarette lighter in STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, but it illustrates the distinctiveness of his point of view. Within the cinema generally, motifs could be said to operate across two broad continua: from conventional to unconventional and from simple to complex. Hitchcock's motifs consistently gravitate towards the unconventional and/or the complex, with milk illustrating the former and the cigarette lighter both features.

In particular, Hitchcock's motifs continue to accumulate significance throughout the individual films, and throughout his films overall. In order to explore this further, I would like to pursue the notion that the resonances of a given motif may be analysed through theories of melodrama. In its direct appeal to the emotions of the audience, and in the way that it charges acts, gestures, statements with a wider symbolic significance, melodrama is particularly relevant to an understanding of Hitchcock's films. Equally, the condensed, emotionally resonant signification typical of melodrama may be seen operating in many motifs. Viewed as melodramatic elements in a narrative, motifs serve to crystallise issues and preoccupations.

The role of melodrama in articulating the motifs invites a psychoanalytical approach. In his seminal article ‘Hitchcock's Vision’, Peter Wollen runs through a number of Hitchcock's themes and motifs, discussing them from a Freudian point of view. I would like to quote one passage in some detail: