The Birds Short Story

986 Words4 Pages
“The Birds” was originally a short story written by Daphne DuMaurier and was released to the public in 1952. It was then made into a movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1963. The short story is about Nat Hocken, a farmer that lives with his family on the coast of England. The movie is about Melanie Daniels and the Brenner family and it is set in the fishing town of Bodega Bay in the United States. In both the short story and the movie, the characters get attacked by the birds. Although there are different effects used in the short story and movie, they still achieve psychological horror to the reader and the viewer. The short story “The Birds” is similar to the movie “The Birds” in many different ways. In both the short story and the…show more content…
At the beginning of the scene in the short story, we read about Nat having forgotten about something important. He then realises that the fire in the fireplace “was smouldering out”. This incident leads the birds down through the chimney into Nat’s house. DuMaurier uses olfactory imagery when Nat’s wife wakes up and tells Nat that she smells dead birds. As the passage goes on, we read about the singed feathers left behind by the birds, which adds more horror to the passage. A similar event also happens in the movie. This scene takes place just after the birds attack at Cathy’s birthday party. We notice that the lovebirds, Melanie had given Cathy as a birthday present, appear agitated and are chirping loudly. The chirping then stops as a close-up of Melanie is shot before cutting to a single bird in the fireplace. This gives us a sign that the birds are about to attack once again. Silence is then used effectively to create suspense to the viewers. When the birds came streaming down the chimney, there is no dialogue exchanged except for Mitch’s command “Cover your faces! Cover your eyes!” All we hear throughout Mitch’s command is the flapping of wings, the screeching of birds and Mitch fighting them off. The quick cuts between the masses of birds flying around in the room and the shots of the characters being attacked create…show more content…
Nat is standing in the fields looking at the bay. Nat sees that the waves are very rough. DuMaurier also uses aural imagery through activities and comparisons, for example, “the roar was distant, more remote, lacking the sound and thunder of the flood.” He then realises that the white smudge on top of the water where gulls. DuMaurier uses a short sentence “The gulls” which encaptures Nat’s shock and horror. DuMaurier uses repetition – “hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands” – to show us that the number of birds on the bay is rapidly increasing. DuMaurier uses the “clay hills, white and clean” to juxtapose with the “heavy pallor of the sky.” “The vicious sea drumming on the rocks” is an example of personification which is used to portray catastrophe and horror. The short story “The Birds” written by Daphne DuMaurier and was then later on made into a movie called “The Birds” directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Although these two productions are very different, both the movie and the short story create horror. For example, the filming techniques that Hitchcock uses in the movie are very effective. In the short story, DuMaurier uses sensory imagery to make the readers feel what the characters in the story is experiencing. The effects may be different in the movie and the book, but both of the productions achieve a high level of psychological
Open Document