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Human Vulnerability In Daphne Dumaurier's The Birds

709 Words3 Pages

In Daphne DuMaurier s The Birds, main character Nat, military veteran, husband, and current farmer, is put under siege when swarms of birds start attacking his property and seem to have a newly found combativeness toward humans. Fighting to protect his family from this unpredictable situation, the chaos only escalates when the birds take the lives of the Hocken s neighbors, the Trigg family. Ultimately, the fate of the characters is left up to the imagination as the birds continue their persistent bombardment of the Hocken s family home. Discussing themes of human vulnerability and nature, this short story is compelling in its own way. The story is extremely well written by the author because of the author's creation of tension and suspense …show more content…

It is not optimal when characters are flat, especially in a story when the characters are vulnerable, as it is common to have little compunction when a character dies or is in danger when they are flat and dull. As well as, DuMaurier's exploration of themes of sacrifice, human vulnerability, and the force of nature. The unpredictability of the birds, along with when Nat finds out that the birds rose and fell in the trough of the seas, heads to the wind, like a mighty fleet at anchor, waiting on the tide (DuMaurier 8). This new revelation gives the characters a time window to gather supplies and expands the setting beyond their home. Exploring the themes of human vulnerability and the force of nature, the story surveys the fragility of civilization versus nature; furthermore, in the story the vulnerability of humans is put on display when he pushed Whitehorn the children through the door to the passage and shut it upon them, so that he was alone now in their bedroom with the birds (DuMaurier 3). This constant fear of the safety of Nat s children adds tension when the family is in danger, as the children are the most vulnerable in the

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The ratio of birds to humans is approximately 300 to 7, so if humans were attacked by a mass of birds, there’s a very slim possibility of survival, if any possibility. This is the base of the plot of Daphne du Maurier’s short story, The Birds (1952), and Alfred Hitchcock’s movie adaptation of the same name, which came out in 1963. While there are similarities between them, such as the conflict and the theme, there are also differences, such as the characters and the setting. This essay will be covering the similarities and the differences between the short story and the film. There are a few similarities between the short story and the movie, like the conflict and the theme.

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Alfred Hitchcock was a friend of Daphne du Maurier’s father, Sir Gerald du Maurier. The fact that Hitchcock knew father Sir Gerald much better than his daughter Daphne is striking because Hitchcock adapted three of Daphne du Maurier’s works for the screen. Of the 50-odd feature films Hitchcock made, most of which are adaptations of novels, short stories or plays, there is no other writer which Hitchcock adapts more than once, and yet there are three du Maurier adaptations (Sinyard). Hitchcock’s film The Birds is based on the short story with the same name by Daphne du Maurier; there are many striking similarities between the two works yet the meaning behind Hitchcock’s film and du Maurier’s short story could not be more different.

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Fear is the enemy of love and fear comes with feeling alone, worthless, and empty inside. Nat, the main character, showed no signs of fear instead he loves his children so much to the point where he would risk his life for them without a doubt. In “The Birds”, Daphne du Maurier uses point of view to show the importance of putting others before ourselves.

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Hitchcock's representation of this scene in the film amplifies the sense of dread and claustrophobia through a combination of visual and auditory techniques. In one striking shot, Hitchcock employs a high-angle shot to depict the birds descending upon the farmhouse, creating a sense of impending doom. The use of rapid editing and overlapping sound effects further intensifies the chaos, immersing the viewer in the visceral experience of the attack. As the camera alternates between close-ups of the characters' terrified faces and wide shots of the birds swarming outside, Hitchcock effectively conveys the overwhelming nature of the threat. Another key scene from du Maurier's story is the attack on the schoolhouse, where the children are targeted by the birds while attending class.

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