Part II

Lost Highway

Symbolism

The purpose of this page is to explain what I feel every character is representing symbolically in the film.

Of course, the only person who really has a chance of completely understanding all of David Lynch is David Lynch!

A brief note: I initially imagined that the symbolism for each of these characters would be described in a few words. Since then, I've changed my mind. As I put together this page, I found myself constantly changing and adding to this "symbolism" section. To this day, I'm not 100% set on it, either... I believe that there could definitely be more than one "right way" to interpret this movie - from each character as an individual all the way through to the movie as a whole. However, I am quite happy with my understanding of the film, and I don't think I am mentally capable of analyzing it any further!

Please Note: Some of the  photos used on this page were taken from Mike Hartman's Web Page.

Presenting... The Characters and their Symbolism!

Fred Madison - Fred. Really! Just Fred. (If life were only this easy!)

Renee Madison - Fred's unfaithful wife, or so he suspected.  Renee was the victim of  brutal murder.

Mr. Eddy / Dick Laurant (DL) - I believe he represented Fred's fear, or specifically,  his fear of "going for" his temptation... which was to kill his wife. Because of this role, DL acted, in a way, like a part of Fred's conscience (that which would cause Fred to fear doing something wrong).

To clarify,  getting "Freedom" from and revenge on Renee for what he suspected her of was Fred's temptation.  Killing her was how he attempted to accomplish this.   DL symbolized the fear (or hesitation) that Fred probably felt while planning and executing his wife's murder.  He therefore was that one thing that, if he (actually, if that part of Fred that DL represented)  had been successful , may have been  able to stop the murder. It is important to realize that DL was representing something that scared Fred and tried to set him "straight".  I don't believe that  DL was something that was evil, although because he represented a barrier for Fred, Fred may have chose to remember him with an evil connotation.

Notice the interesting cinematography when Peter first meets Alice (Temptation).  We see DL standing between them... representing a sort of barrier that separates Fred from Alice.

Another (or maybe additional) possibility...

There are some parts of the movie that also make me think that this character, in addition to symbolizing what was discussed above, may also have existed in Fred's or Renee's life to some capacity. He may have been someone who Fred suspected Renee was cheating with (i.e., the Lost Highway Hotel scene at the end). He may have feared the man, as well as had vengeance towards him... which may explain the representation he has in the movie. This duality is also substantiated by this character being the only one with two names in the movie.

The Mystery Man (MM) -

The "Mystery Man" is symbolic of a "collective whole" of Fred's emotions. Specifically, the MM is the result of Fred's overwhelming emotion (jealousy, anger, conviction) at the point at which he no longer can deal with it internally. Incidentally, I believe that the MM's ugly and scary appearance is related to how Fred thinks of the emotions he represents. The Mystery Man is responsible for showing Fred the "ugly truth."

The same powerful, uncontrollable emotions that led Fred to brutally murder his wife return to him not long after the crime. The act that Fred executed did result in the death of his wife, however the emotional intensity remained with him, but now consists largely of guilt, fear, and disbelief. The passion that led him to commit the crime now forces him to pay the immortal price: Fred will be reminded forever of what he did. He will pay the price both in reality (execution) and in his own mind (eternal pain and denial).

Fred killed his wife in order to stop the painful emotions that her infidelity caused him. The intensity he felt in a sense blinded him and caused him to believe that there was no other escape except for what he had done. Unfortunately, it is not until after he commits this barbaric crime that he learns the ultimate lesson: In order to escape, Fred caused himself to be permanently imprisoned.

The emotions that are created as a result of the crime are clearly more painful, disturbing and detrimental than those from which Fred had originally attempted to escape. Unfortunately, there is no easy escape these resultant feelings. It is this that pushes Fred into an infinite world of denial... a world that is accessed via the lost highway that Fred has already entered... but as he will soon learn, will never escape.

The "Mystery Man" is symbolic of these emotions. We see Fred tormented by these emotions throughout the movie. Because the Mystery Man is actually a physical representation of how Fred viewed his emotions, MM appears as an evil character who exists only to make Fred's life difficult (i.e., reminding him of what he's done). However, a person must build up these emotions, as the MM explains when he says, "I do not go where I am not invited."

Fire (in just about any form in this movie) - represents Fred's raging emotions (i.e., jealousy, rage, anger, frustration, etc...). At first, these emotions were fueled by his suspicions of Renee's infidelity. After, guilt, fear, as well as anger and jealousy combine to continue this flame.

The Cabin (burning in reverse) - Fire tends to become more uncontrolled as it burns (ask any fireman!) In this case, the raging fire is "forced" inside of this cabin. This is symbolic of the raging emotions tha Fred is holding inside and consequently, not dealing with. As described above, the Mystery Man is the result of these emotions... and thus he exits from the Cabin after the flames enter.

The Videos - These represent Truth... those events that Fred is consciencely denying -- Reality! As was stated previously, the intense emotions connected with Fred's crime will cause him to continually remember it, no matter how hard he tries not to. Symbolically, the truth (these videos) are constant reminders of Fred's crime "delivered" by his emotions (Mystery Man) .

Fred's Internal Emotions: Connecting the Symbols

Connections between the Reverse-burning cabin, fire, Mystery Man, and the Videos

Just to help put a few of the pieces together, consider this: There were a number of situations that created raging emotions (the fire) in Fred (predominately, Renee's infidelity). At first Fred keeps these emotions locked up inside himself (the cabin) until he literally can't take it anymore. Fred decides to kill his wife as a result of the intense, uncontrollable emotion that he feels (the fire entering the cabin to create Mystery Man; the force that guides him through this act). These same emotions are joined by guilt and fear afterwards (again, MM) that torment him forever after.

Alice Wakefield (AW) - Alice symbolized Fred's Temptation. More specifically, his temptation to kill his wife, Renee. Alice was very closely related to the Mystery Man in the same way that one's emotions tend to lead them towards temptation.

Andy - It is unclear whether or not this really happens, or whether Fred is "creating" this murder to satisfy the following two conditions:

1. By his killing Andy, Fred is able to destroy the man that had an affair with his wife (or so he suspected).
2. Temptation (Alice) "pushes" Fred (as Peter) to kill Andy... just as temptation for freedom from his imprisoned life pushes him to kill Renee.

Peter Dayton (PD) - The result of an incurable identity crisis! Clearly, Fred begins to lose his identity as he continues to deny events in his life. As a result, Fred "creates" himself this new identity in his later attempt to escape the truth.

Again, Peter's life is really another distorted memory of Fred's real life. Although this "memory" is clearly more distorted (and thus less accurate) then his previous "memories."

Points to ponder concerning Peter:

• Fred probably though that if he remembered himself physically as someone else, it might better hide his reality from him.

• Fred cannot escape his very obsession, Renee - even in a fantasy world.
  
• Notice that Fred begins seeing himself (in his "new identity" as Peter) having a more ideal life. Notice the "brady"-like parents, the white picket fence in the backyard of his house (while he is comfortably lying on a chair), and the "trouble free" music playing in the background

• Fred clearly had a lot of trouble living with Renee's infidelity. Judging by Peter's behavior (i.e., cheating on Sheila, going after Alice, etc...), it appears that in this identity as Peter, Fred probably imagined the situation reversed... for him to have been the one to be unfaithful... in this way he could totally feel in control.  Remember, Fred can have things any way he wants.

• Peter kills Andy because Alice told him to. Fred tries to push this off on Alice - but if you remember in the movie, after Peter kills him, and says "We killed him...", Alice quickly reminds him, "No, YOU killed him"

Fred's "escape from reality" begins to fall apart when Peter accepts Alice's initial dinner date. As stated above, Alice is very closely related to MM (and very well could actually be him). Peter's ultimately inviting Alice to dinner (after she tempts him) is an exact analog to Fred's "inviting" the Mystery Man (emotional rage) into his life.

Fred's Fatal Flaw: Accepting Temptation

The connection between Alice, Peter, and the Mystery Man

Even in this new identity that Fred has created for himself, he is still unable to "block out" the truth. In Fred's altered reality, he still falls pray to his own temptation (in reality, to kill his wife).

However, because we are experiencing this through a deranged mind, I've given a little more detail below:

We see Peter (Fred) confronted with temptation (Alice/Killing Renee). He cannot resist Alice, and invites her to dinner. This is an exact analog to the following:

Fred is confronted with a temptation in his real life (freedom from a life and a marriage that he cannot stand as well as an escape from his disloyal wife). He accepts the temptation (killing his wife) by acting on his emotions ("I is confronted with a temptation in his real life (freedom from a life and a marriage that he cannot stand as well as an escape from his disloyal wife).  Fred accepts the temptation (killing his wife) by acting on his emotions, and thus "Inviting" the Mystery Man into his life.

As the Mystery Man states in the film, "You invited me. It's not my habit to go where I'm not wanted."

Sheila-This was a difficult one for me to decide, so I wrote out two different things which I believe she could have represented.  Of course, maybe she represented both (or none)!

Possibility #1:

Fred created Sheila to be the "Renee" in his life, except for one major difference - this Renee was innocent, and totally in love with Fred.

I think Fred really wanted to "get control" of Renee. This was something he couldn't do. Perhaps Sheila was someone Fred thought up that looked a little like Renee, but was exactly how he would have wanted her to be. It was clear that he felt he could be "macho" around her when he was "existing" as PD.

Possibility #2:

The scene in which Sheila was beating up on Peter... I thought this was interesting.  In a way, the way Fred would have liked to release his feelings on Renee.  When I watched Sheila, I just kept thinking of the frustration that Fred felt towards his wife.

Sharp Headaches - These seem to occur when something happens in "Peter's life" (quoted since he is a construct of Fred) that begins to pull Fred back to reality by reminding him of it. In other words, things or events that Fred's real-life emotions force him to remember the real truth.

A few examples regarding transitions:

• Peter gets one of these headaches after Sheila violently accuses him of cheating. She kicks him repeatedly, and as he falls to the ground she continues to call him a liar. Peter appears silent and helpless throughout. This scene reminds Fred of Renee's murder. This time, however, Sheila is representing Fred's position as the attacker, and Fred (Peter) experiences the fear and helplessness that Renee did at the time of her death.
• He experiences one when he looks at the ceiling light in the room with the bugs. His looking at this light was just like Fred staring at the light in his prison cell.
• When Peter hears Fred's saxophone solo, he is again reminded of the reality he is so desperately trying to avoid.
• There are other such examples in the movie!

The Lost Highway (Road Scenes) and Blue Flashes of Light- These represent the "Lost Highway". When Fred begins to feel cornered into a position where he is forced to face the truth, he "runs away" by creating a new identity for himself inside his head. Irrevocable denial was Fred's ticket onto the Lost Highway.

A few examples...

• Fred sees the first blue flash when he is pulled from his first attempt to escape reality. We see this brief flash when the detective punches Fred in the face
• When Fred assumes Peter's identity, we see a number of blue flashes occur.
• Towards the end, when Fred is being chased by the detectives down the Lost Highway, we again see flashes as he assumes another identity on his ever-lasting journey.
• There are other such examples in the movie!

Lost Highway Hotel- Represents the "pool" of new identities and possibilities that are floating around inside of Fred's head. As Fred becomes more and more lost in his new identities, this room symbolizes his confusion ... his inability to know reality from non-reality ... the mix of all possibilities.

Return to Jason's Home Page

Go to "Lost Highway: Explained" Part III - Fred's New Identities
Go to the "Lost Highway Explained" Main Page