In their book After Hitchcock, David Boyd and Barton Palmer write about the “misidentification” of Hitchcock’s protagonist in The 39 Steps. Rather than suggesting that the protagonist is simply randomly suggested to “malevolent forces,” Boyd and Palmer argue that Hannay is misidentified as a spy in order to serve as a “barrier to his romantic fulfilment.” This initial misidentification as an agent or spy leads to his own pursuit towards those who would misidentify him in what Hitchcock terms the ‘double pursuit.’

Before the introduction of Annabelle to his life, Hannay lives as an independent, if transient, being. Through his association with her, his identity becomes misconstrued. Interpreted by her enemies as a spy, this group of malevolent agents threaten his independent lifestyle. Boyd and Palmer argue that Hannay’s quest to retrieve the secrets is really a journey to reclaim the identity that was stolen from him. He must engage in Hitchcock’s ‘double pursuit’ in order to realign the perception of his identity with the reality. They go on to assert that this entire tale of misidentification is further poignant for its function as a barrier to Hannay’s “romantic fulfilment.” This returns to what many authors comment on – his natural fulfilment of stereotypical masculine desires. By misconstruing and, in effect, thieving Hannay’s independent identity, the enemy agents launch him on a quest to regain it which finds him fulfilling his stereotypical identity as the masculine role in a romantic relationship.

Boyd and Palmer present an interesting perspective on the motivation and goal of Hannay’s journey. Rather than a purely masculine quest, Hannay is simply trying to reassert his personal identification and in doing so finds the identity that, by filmic convention, he is destined for.