What are some imagery quotes from "The Birds?"

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 quotes from the book include the following:

at midday, he would pause and eat the meat pie his wife had baked for him and, sitting on the cliff’s edge, watch the birds.

Nat Hocken, the "he" of the quote above, lives by the sea. We can visualize him eating a meat pie for lunch, and maybe smell the meat, feel the sun straight overhead shining on him, and see him sitting on the edge of the cliff, watching the birds flying over the ocean. This is a scene you can easily imagine being filmed.

In the quote below, Nat, while hurrying to get back inside his house, is attacked:

As he jumped the stile, he heard the whir of wings. A black backed gull dived down at him from the sky. It missed, swerved in flight, and rose to dive again.

We can hear the wings and see the gull diving and rising up to dive again. Below, we can hear and see more birds join in on the attack, and perhaps feel the blood stinging from where they peck Nat:

They kept coming at him from the air—noiseless, silent, save for the beating wings. The terrible, fluttering wings. He could feel the blood on his hands, his wrists, upon his neck.

In "The Birds," Du Maurier uses imagery to enhance her description and to build on the experiences of her characters. Just before the first attack, when Nat is in bed with his wife, for example, she uses imagery to depict the changing weather pattern as the autumn ends and the winter begins:

"He woke just after two and heard the wind in the chimney. Not the storm and bluster of a sou’westerly gale, bringing the rain, but east wind, cold and dry. It sounded hollow in the chimney, and a loose slate rattled on the roof. Nat listened, and he could hear the sea roaring in the bay. Even the air in the small bedroom had turned chill: A draft came under the skirting of the door, blowing upon the bed."

In this quote, Du Maurier appeals to various senses: the reader not only feels the wind but hears and touches it. Similarly, when Nat is attacked in the next paragraph, Du Maurier employs imagery to emphasise the ferocity of the attack:

"Nat got out of bed and went to the window. He opened it, and as he did so something brushed his hand, jabbing at his knuckles, grazing the skin. Then he saw the flutter of the wings and it was gone, over the roof, behind the cottage."

In this example, Du Maurier's imagery enables the reader to experience the attack from Nat's perspective: the reader feels the sensation of the bird "grazing" his skin and watches as it flies away. 

What are the 20 most important quotes from Daphne Du Maurier's short story, "The Birds"?

A list of the twenty most important quotes from 'The Birds' novella by Daphne Du Maurier would be a very long list - perhaps it is best to divide them neatly into themes and request individual posts for each theme. For example, let us deal here with important quotes to learn on the psychological theme of the work.

Psychological issues in 'The Birds' include the perceived need for humans to seize control, power, dominance and superiority over each other and over Nature in order to feel safe. Humans, however seem unable to admit this or to accept that Nature can often overturn the works of Man. For example, when we think about it, many diseases are in fact, caused by organisms from Nature such as bacteria. A tsunami can paralyse an entire country for months. In the novella, however, people can't get their heads around the fact that birds could stage a massacre against humans.

A useful quote for this theme would the words spoken by Nat. He tries to dismiss the actions of the birds by referring to their natural habits. When the first bird threatens Nat alone, he tries saying that it is only natural for it to be scared :

'frightened, he supposed, and bewildered, the bird, seeking shelter, had stabbed at him in the darkness. Once more he settled himself to sleep.'

The human, it seems, can sleep better in his bed at night after reassuring his mind with plausible causes for inexplicable natural events. He makes the classic misdiagnosis error, however, in allowing the most obvious symptom to mask other potential underlying possibilities. 

Another related psychological theme is the way in which humans deal with psychological stress when natural events can no longer be explained away.

For example, the noisy onslaught of birds hitting the roof, doors and windows for days goes beyond coincidence. The kids deal with their fear by releasing their stress through laughter:

'This was the way to face up to it. This was the spirit. If they could keep up like this, hang on like this until seven, when the first news bulletin came through, they would not have done too badly.'

What are some important quotes about survival in "The Birds"?

The premise of Du Maurier's story is a fairly destructive one.  The birds win. Humanity suffers. Yet, in Nat's characterization, one can see how Du Maurier defines the contours of survival. Du Maurier taps into the human ability to survive, something that Faulkner might call the "cursed capacity for suffering."

This "cursed capacity" is seen at different points in the story.  For example, at the story's end, Nat's characterization captures what Du Maurier sees as a necessary condition for survival.  Rather than respond to his wife who pleads for America "to do something," Nat focuses on defending his family and himself against the coming onslaught:

Nat did not answer. The boards were strong against the windows and on the chimneys too. The cottage was filled with stores, with fuel, with all they needed for the next few days. When he had finished dinner he would put the stuff away, stack it neatly, get everything shipshape, handy like. His wife could help him, and the children too. They’d tire themselves out, between now and a quarter to nine, when the tide would ebb; then he’d tuck them down on their mattresses, see that they slept good and sound until three in the morning. 

Nat does not answer his wife who looks for help from abroad.  He simply focuses on survival.  Du Maurier focuses on the intensity with which Nat puts the boards on the windows and chimneys.  Nat's resolve towards survival is met with the resilience of his family.  They help him, even to the point where "they'd tire themselves out."  This quote shows the role of survival in the story.

Continuing from this point, Nat defines consciousness as continually redefining ways to defeat the birds even when the odds for survival do not look good.  The birds swarm with greater intensity and greater focus, and yet Nat is driven to survive:

He had a new scheme for the windows, which was to fix barbed wire in front of the boards. He had brought a great roll of it from the farm. The nuisance was, he’d have to work at this in the dark, when the lull came between nine and three. Pity he had not thought of it before. Still, as long as the wife slept, and the kids, that was the main thing.

Nat's survival is shown in his desire to protect his family, "the main thing," and not succumb to the overwhelming forces of the birds.  Nat's survival is embedded within him, constantly thinking about ways to find victory.  While Nat would have every reason to concede that the birds have greater paths to victory, he does not let such thinking enter his mind. Instead, survival is defined as caring for his family and seeking a way to find success.

In Nat's characterization, Du Maurier constructs survival as possessing the will to take action.  Nat confronts some very unsettling aspects of reality.  Yet, he does not allow negative thoughts to permeate his drive to survive:

“There isn’t going to be any news,” said Nat. “We’ve got to depend upon ourselves.” 

He went to the door and slowly pulled away the barricades. He drew the bolts and, kicking the bodies from the step outside the door, breathed the cold air. He had six working hours before him, and he knew he must reserve his strength for the right things, not waste it in any way. Food and light and fuel; these were the necessary things. If he could get them in sufficiency, they could endure another night. 

In this moment, du Maurier defines survival as a fierce self- sufficiency that is motivated by the will to act.  Nat tells his wife that outside intervention is secondary and that there has to be self- reliance in order to survive.  At the same time, Nat understands that survival is dependent on harnessing "the necessary things" and maximizing their usefulness.  This becomes a critical part of survival in challenging situations.  Du Maurier constructs survival as a reality in which individuals possess mental toughness, and harness their skills and knowledge towards living.