The Birds

At the beginning of the story, Nat Hocken is at work on break, watching the birds. He thinks about their feeding behavior, which he describes as "without hunger, without desire." Perhaps, thought...

We experience the story from the point of view of Nat, who is intimately aware of the normal rhythms of nature in his area. As we watch what is going on with him, we come to share his deep sense...

In "The Birds," the birds symbolize the uninhibited and unbridled power of nature. This is shown most clearly in their violent and repeated attacks on humans. In one incident, the birds attack Nat...

One theme in Daphne’s “The Birds” is a struggle to survive, to live. Nat’s family is one of the first in his area to experience an attack by a large number of birds. First, Nat fights off about...

The first instance of ignorance in "The Birds" is when Nat makes the assumption that the birds attacked him and his family because they were looking for shelter. When Jill points that the birds...

Many have argued over the years that the birds represent the power of nature and mankind's stubborn inability to recognize the power of nature. Throughout the story, the characters are at the mercy...

The setting of Daphne du Maurier's short story, "The Birds," is the Cornish coast of England in autumn during the threat of Cold War in the 1950's and 1960's. This time of year is appropriate to...

Much as I liked the tenacity and resourcefulness of Nate's character in "The Birds" (1951), the chances of him and his family making it alive out of the apocalypse in the story seem bleak. Although...

The climax in any story is the turning point in the story. It's the moment when the conflict has reached its greatest point of intensity and the moment when the resolution is in sight. The reader...

In "The Birds," Du Maurier employs a number of symbols. Here are a few to consider: The gun symbolises how man underestimates the power of nature. Mr Trigg thinks that shooting the birds will be...

Imagery is description that uses the five senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Imagery helps place readers in a scene, as if they were watching it in a movie. Some examples of imagery...

Interestingly, though they are related, the film and the original story have different themes. The film is not a direct adaptation of the original book, which features a family fighting for their...

When the story begins, the mood is calm and serene. This is created by the description of Nat Hocken, sitting on the edge of a cliff and enjoying nature as he eats his lunch. The mood quickly...

The most demonstrative external conflict in the work is between Nat and the Birds. This is external in nature as it pits two forces against one another. Nat is experiencing a fundamental external...

There are a number of examples of irony in Du Maurier's story, "The Birds." One of the most striking can be found in the fate of Mrs Trigg, the farmer's wife. She demonstrates scepticism towards...

Daphne du Maurier's 1952 short story "The Birds" (part of a volume of short stories titled The Apple Tree; "The Birds" was actually written in 1951, but was first published as part of this...

The silent radio and the burning cigarette can also be interpreted as symbols of man's struggle to survive. The silent radio, for example, is a stark reminder that in the fight against the birds,...

This is a mystery that is never fully solved in the story. What Nat and others assume at the beginning, before the bird attacks become too serious, is that the birds are acting in such strange ways...

Daphne Du Maurier's short story The Birds was a reaction to the fears faced by the British and others in the years following World War II, which saw England heavily bombed by Germany, and the...

"The Birds" is a horror-thriller novelette (a short novel) written by the English author and playwright Daphne Du Maurier and published in 1952 in her first collection of stories entitled The Apple...

Yes, the short story "The Birds" takes place after World War II. The year is not certain, but it's probably within a year or two after the war. We know this because the story begins by describing...

In the story "The Birds," by Daphne du Maurier, Nat Hocken finds himself in a situation filled with conflict of virtually every nature. The internal conflict facing Hocken is a driving force for...

The exposition or setting up of the scene and the background of The Birds happens fairly quickly. We learn that it is December 3rd when the story opens, and that Nat Hocken is the protagonist. Due...

Perhaps in Daphne du Maurier's story, "The Birds," what she describes is more important than what her characters say, by way of adding to the story's overall suspense. Dialogue is general a source...

In "The Birds," the resolution of the story comes when Nat realises that he and his family are alone and helpless against the attacking birds. He realises this when the wireless does not play the...

When Nat Hocken’s house is first attacked by the birds, he thinks that the birds have been driven from upcountry by the difficult weather and that they have attacked because they are hungry and...

In the story, Jim is the cowman; both Nat and Jim work for the farmer, Mr. Trigg. When Nat asks Jim whether he has had any trouble with the birds, Jim brushes Nat off. Nat then begins to describe...

At first, Nat and his wife derive some comfort from the announcements over the wireless, as these announcements inform him and his wife about what is going on. The wireless broadcasts also provide...

Nat Hocken's a hero because he's willing to do whatever it takes to protect his family from the murderous flock of birds that's descended upon the village. Unlike his neighbors, he takes the birds'...

The incidents that occur on December 3rd are both changes in the birds's regular behavior and the number of them. Nat and the farmer both notice the changes and remark on them without much fanfare...

In Daphne du Maurier's short story The Birds, Nat Hocken has been slightly bewildered by the strange behavior of the region's bird. Nat observes the birds' seeming restlessness and their apparent...

Daphne Du Maurier’s short story “The Birds” includes many gothic elements. Gothic literature typically explores intense fear and human emotions in life or death situations. Du Maurier’s story is a...

At the end of "The Birds," Nat throws his empty cigarette packet onto the fire and watches it burn. This moment is indeed symbolic: that the packet is empty, for example, signifies that humankind...

Nat Hocken is very aware of and connected to nature. He is the first person, for example, who notices the change in the birds' behaviour on December third. Nat is also dependable and reliable:...

Nate Hocken is not the narrator of this story. The story is told using third-person narration, from Nate Hocken's point of view. I would describe Nate Hocken as an older retired man who works...

The opening of the story contains symbolism. Du Maurier uses the opening of the story to indicate a theory of correspondence, a connection between the weather and impending dramatic elements in...

In "The Birds," we can describe Nat and his family's need for outside communication as imperative. This is clearly shown by Nat's attitude to the wireless bulletin. Once he realizes that the birds...

In terms of Daphne duMaurier's story "The Birds," I would look at the massing gulls riding the waves in two ways. On a simple level, as the bird mass upon the rising waves, the reader is given the...

The story is set in Cornwall, a territory that juts out like a leg from the southwest of England, forming a peninsula. The story's author, Du Maurier, lived in Cornwall, and her work is strongly...

I would say that one of the primary messages of Du Maurier's work is to underscore the fundamental capacity to endure and to survive as one of the basic characteristics of humanity. The birds seek...

A possible resolution and denouement would be that once Mitch leaves his hometown with his family and Marion, the birds' attacks heighten in violence and they end up exterminating one another....

Feeding into much of the fearful atmosphere of the world stage after World War II, the story's conclusion brings to light the belief that the birds will overcome civilization. The bird attacks...

Nat Hocken is the protagonist.  Nat tries to protect his family from the murderous birds.  You can learn more about this character and others by visiting the link below. 

When the birds attack Nat's home, he develops a rational explanation as he tries to make sense of this violent and unexpected behaviour. As he tells his wife, Jill, he believes that a change in the...

While it's never conclusively determined why the birds are acting strangely, the main theory mentioned in the story is a change in the wind and weather. When the birds start attacking Nat's house,...

War quotes The situation depicted in this story consciously recalls wartime. The constant aerial attacks by the birds engender a siege mentality in the humans. Nat and his family are obliged to...

I don't believe du Maurier (the author) tell us that, so we can probably assume it takes place in the present, which would have been 1951 or 1952 (it was published in '52).Check the links below for...

The birds that form such an implacable enemy to Nat and his family are personified throughout this terrifying short story, but you might like to consider the following examples of adjectives that...

In the beginning of "The Birds," the narrator introduces Nat Hocken, a disabled veteran, and informs the reader how he spends his working day. He works for Mr Trigg, the farmer, three days per week...

After the intense and frightening night they had, Nat and his wife receive information via the radio that birds had been acting strangely all over England. This strange news must come as a relief...