Imagery In Daphne Du Maurier's The Birds

“He felt the thud of the bodies, heard the fluttering of wings; but the birds were not yet defeated, for again and again they returned to the assault, jabbing his hands, his head, their little stabbing beaks sharp as pointed forks” (Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds). This enthralling scene is an excerpt from none other than Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds, and it inserts a perfect picture in the reader’s head of the suffering Nat is undergoing. In the short story The Birds, Nat must defend his family from the invasion of birds, and the author creates a suspenseful story with strong imagery during and after the raid of the birds. On the other hand, Alfred Hitchcock skillfully creates tension in his film through silence. Although both versions of …show more content…
For example, when Nat is outside fixing his house from last night’s bird attack, he observes the seagulls near the shore, and the readers experience an eerie and dark emotion: “The gulls had risen. They were circling, hundreds of them, thousands of them, lifting their wings against the wind. It was the gulls that made the darkening of the sky. And they were silent. They just went on soaring and circling, rising, falling, trying their strength against the wind.” (7). The passage adds concern and discomfort of the audience with heavy use of foreshadowing in this piece of imagery. The reader feels On the other hand, Alfred Hitchcock utilizes silence to his advantage when the birds are regrouping on a piece of playground equipment, and they are about to attack the school children. Although this scene successfully imprints an uneasy and suspenseful feel, Daphne du Maurier relays the severity of these attacks more strongly through her descriptive words. In addition, du Mauriers imagery creates a calm before the storm effect with an ardent affect: “Upstairs in the bedrooms all was quiet. No more scraping and stabbing at the windows. A lull in battle. The wind hadn’t dropped, though. Nat could still hear it roaring in the chimneys. And the sea breaking down on the shore” (12). While Nat awaits for another attack, du Maurier takes the time to describe …show more content…
The Birds takes place on an outlying English coast shortly after World War 2, and on the other hand, Alfred Hitchcock’s version of The Birds occurs in Bodega Bay in a modern era. Although Hitchcock’s adaptation is thrilling because the main characters are separate from the big cities’ protection, Daphne du Maurier’s setting is more enthralling and blood curling because her story happens after one of the most horrendous wars human history has ever seen, and Nat’s family has less hope of government assistance. Daphne du Maurier writes, “…at the far end of the peninsula, where the sea surrounded the farmland on either side” (1). The coast where Nat and his family reside has a queer atmosphere around it, and the reader instantly knows that with the sea surrounding them aid would be difficult to acquire. This setting jolts the readers to Nat’s reality that these attacks are heavy and drastic, and the government’s help is unlikely due to their forsaken location. Alternately, The Birds movie version does not have the same critical affect Daphne du Maurier conveys because there are phones readily available, and the main characters use functioning cars to escape from the bay and go back to San Francisco. The short story is not as hopeful as the movie, thus a forlorn emotion impacts the reader more than Alfred Hitchcock’s rendition. In addition, du Maurier’s