Miniature story
A timid clerk sees the figurines of a museum's 19th-century miniature dollhouse come to life. Directed by: Walter Grauman. Story by: Charles Beaumont.
17 total · 1 choice · 11 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| escape from reality | choice | We understand that Charley was drawn into a fantasy in which some dollhouse characters were alive - maybe to get away from his overbearing family. The psychiatrist said as much. |
| anthropomorphic object come to life | major | While the doll in a museum display case merely seemed to be alive to Charley, at the story's conclusion the museum guard also saw the doll as alive, presumably confirming that it was really so. |
| character transported into imaginary world | major | Charley ended up being transported into a museum display dollhouse inhabited by living dolls. |
| controlling family member | major | Charley's mother clearly mothered him too much. |
| hallucination of a non-existing person | major | Charley was committed to a psychiatric hospital because of his belief that the figures in the dollhouse were alive. |
| impossible love | major | Charley's love for the doll seemed momentarily impossible, though they soon became joined through magic. |
| infatuation | major | Charley professed his love for a doll in a museum display case that to him seemed to behave as a living human being. |
| loneliness | major | Charley was a very lonely man who spent all his time fantasizing over the world inside a dollhouse. |
| mother and son | major | Charley and his overbearing mother. |
| obsession | major | Charley became fascinated with a doll inside a museum display case to the point where he completely withdrew from society in order to be able to watch it all the time. |