Nightmare Alley’s Enoch Foreshadows The Ending & Stan’s Father Twist

Nightmare Alley‘s Enoch foreshadows the film’s tragic ending and the revelation that Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) killed his father. Enoch, the body of a newborn baby with three eyes that Clem keeps in a jar of formaldehyde, serves as a striking motif in Guillermo del Toro’s latest project. Though on the surface just a curiosity for carnival-goers to marvel at, Enoch’s role in the film extends beyond coloring the scenery.

Enoch’s giant third eye centered in the middle of his forehead is part of what makes him so worthy of display. Experienced carny Clem (Willem Dafoe) remarks that the “eye follows you around like ’em portraits.” His backstory forms the second part of his uniqueness as a specimen: Clem tells Stan that Enoch killed his mother at childbirth. He then “flopped around for a couple days, brayin’ like a calf” before dying himself.

Stan encounters the baby at the beginning of his career as a carny and again at the end when he agrees to become a Geek. Enoch symbolizes Stan himself. When Stan first encounters Enoch, Enoch serves as foreshadowing for Stan’s story and eventually fate as a Geek.  The baby’s “third eye” is representative of Stan’s own metaphorical one, on display in both his mentalism act and prideful conviction that he is an expert at reading people. Enoch is a grotesque carnival display because of his third eye and chilling backstory. Because of these same two aspects, Stan becomes an equally vulgar carnival spectacle in the form of a Geek.

Enoch’s third eye reflects Stan’s supposed powers as a mentalist, and the image of a third eye is visually repeated in the single, golden eye in the middle of Stan’s blindfold during his act. Stan’s act gives the impression to audiences that he has a kind of second sight, a metaphysical third eye that sees beyond the boundaries of ordinary human perception. His downfall is inherently tied to his act; he flies too close to the sun by trying to con Ezra Grindle (Richard Jenkins), an entanglement that ends in murder and being exposed as a fraud.  He also spells his doom when he starts to genuinely believe in his third eye, becoming convinced he can read people in a way that others cannot. Stan’s accomplice Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett) betrays him partly by taking advantage of this attitude. He is forced to go on the run and becomes both homeless and an alcoholic. This situation ultimately leads him to accept a job as a Geek.

Stan’s history also contributes to the film’s ending. Stan killed his alcoholic father by exposing him to the cold. Just like Enoch, he doesn’t succumb to the same fate immediately; he too “flop[s] around,” becoming a drifter, then carnival worker, then successful mentalist, before undergoing a spectacular fall at the end of which Stan becomes just as pathetic as his father was. This includes going from never touching alcohol in order to avoid being like his father to becoming an alcoholic. This same past also allows Lilith to frame him as mentally unstable, making him seem like the sole mastermind behind the con that now has him on the run.

Just like Enoch, Stan’s backstory and his “third eye” ultimately make him an undignified object of horrified interest for onlookers at a carnival. Stan encounters Enoch for the second time when he meets the owner of the Amberson carnival, who has Enoch on display in his office. When the owner asks Stan if he could handle being a Geek, Stan, laughing and weeping, says, “Mister…I was born for it.” These words provide additional parallels between Stan and Enoch: Enoch died as a newborn and existed in preservation as one–he too was born only to be an exhibition. In his presence during Stan’s agreement with the owner, the prophecy of Enoch’s first appearance in Nightmare Alley is now fulfilled.