How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Rear Window.
Quote #4
LISA: Where's that music coming from?
JEFF: Oh ... some songwriter. In the apartment. Lives alone. Probably had an unhappy marriage.
LISA: I think it's enchanting. Almost as if it were being written especially for us.
JEFF: No wonder he's having so much trouble with it.
The songwriter's music gives a sense of community since everyone can hear it. Not only does it make Jeff and Lisa's night more romantic (despite Jeff's snarking), but it eventually keeps Miss Lonelyhearts from killing herself.
Quote #5
JEFF: Look, Doyle, it's just one of those things I can't tell you on the phone. You have to be here and see the whole set-up. It's probably nothing important, just a little neighborhood murder, that's all. As a matter of fact, I did say "murder."
Jeff invokes his community with the word "neighborhood," implying that Doyle has an occupational obligation to get down there and protect everyone from the murderer in their midst.
Quote #6
DOYLE: Keeps to himself, and none of the neighbors got close to him, or his wife.
We've had some suggestions that there is a real sense of community, but now Doyle is quietly refuting that. "Keeps to himself" is seen as a virtue, as is the neighbors' total lack of involvement in his life. Is minding your own business always a virtue? This is Manhattan, not some small friendly town.