The notion of Marnie as a primitive toothy animal is perhaps nowhere more obvious than in Mark’s office: his display cases are filled with primitive artifacts and evidence of fanged beasts.  Hitchcock dwells on the photo of a “Jagurandi” – a mongrel wildcat with a fierce set of teeth.  The comparison to Marnie is obvious, especially in light of her dubious family situation.  As the dialog continues, Hitchcock seems almost to drop any pretense at straightforward conversation: the fact that Marnie is the “criminal element” whom Mark hopes to “tame” is almost tackily transparent, and the Marnie-beast connection is cemented.

Mark's been writing about Marnie...

Jagurandi, in need of taming.