ok like a ‘Y’. This suggests that it is used as a symbol to show two paths in life to take: the first being the good, realistic or sane path; the other being the bad, fantastic or insane path. Her boyfriend then finds her claiming that he had been looking for her for ages. And with the shot of the crack over Carol’s right shoulder, we see that one of the boyfriends’ feet is over the join in the crack which suggests that he is the only thing between her and her final choice on which path to take.As the film progresses, Carol’s distorted view becomes worse. One scene that shows this is in the beauty parlour. As with most of the camera-work in the film, this is from the physical point of view of Carol. One view we see of an old woman whose face is being massaged is one that looks down over the old woman’s face so that it appears upside-down. Another one is from the corner of the room where Carol is sitting. From here we see the old woman’s body lying on a table with a sheet over it, but we can not see her head – suggesting that the head is covered, and therefore suggesting that the old woman is a corpse. Carol’s distorted view of men and sex also becomes worse. The first hint of this is when she sees a man in a mirror, but when she turns round, he is not there. Then, later, she gets raped, but the film suggests that it is all in her mind. There is no sound from the raping itself, just a ticking of a clock dubbed over the picture to suggest that reality (or real-time) is passing by whilst what the audience sees is going on in her mind. The rape scene is ended by her phone ringing that, because it is so loud, brings her back to reality.With all these distortions of reality, Carol’s mind obviously breaks down and the rabbit that is rotting over the course of the few days she has off work is a physical metaphor for the mental rotting of Carol’s mind. There is also a composite sh...
