The Birds Symbolism Review

Fig.1 -The Birds (1963) [Poster]

The Birds is Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 drama, mystery, horror  film based on the 1952 horror novel 'The Birds' by Daphne du Maurier. The film revolves around a character named Melanie Daniels, who spends her time living a wealthy life, playing pranks and having fun; and eventually falling in love with a lawyer who saw her in court named Mitch Brenner. These two end up falling in love after a series of bird attacks take place in Bodega Bay, where Mitch spends his weekends with his mother, Lydia, and his little sister, Cathy. As the film goes on the bird attacks get more severe, every time they attack there's more and more birds gathering in the Bay. The answer for why they attack is never clear to the audience and is what this review will be looking into; the symbolism of the birds, using resources such as The Guardian (online) and some research into the original book by Daphne du Maurier. 

The birds in the film congregate in major masses almost wherever Melanie seems to go within Bodega Bay. It is said by a mother toward the end of the film 'I think you're the cause of all of this.' because no attacks or odd behaviours came from the birds before Melanie arrived to deliver a pair of love birds to Mitch's little sister. The love birds she delivers are in a cage, possibly symbolising where her and Mitch are trapped due to Lydia Brenner (Mitch's mother) being so awkward towards any woman that Mitch wants a relationship with. (Huff, C. 2018) Which is also later mentioned by Annie Hayworth, who felt Lydia never liked her being with Mitch even though she did everything she could to get her to like her. This would then support the theory of the birds attacking in representation of Lydia's over protection of Mitch. The birds begin by attacking Melanie when she first arrives, then after her discussion with Annie a seagull drops dead outside the front door, then at Cathy's birthday party when Melanie is talking privately to Mitch. The birds almost end up symbolising Lydia's rage, attacking Melanie for her to get her away from Mitch. 'The birds “obviously represent “castrating” symbols meant to keep Melanie (Tippi Hedren) away from the protective mother Lydia (Jessica Tandy).' (Saporito, J. 2015)

Fig.2- The First Attack [Still]

Regarding the original book: The Birds, published in 1952, the birds were originally symbolic of invasion in the UK, and the film itself was produced during the height of the Cold War, war in general could symbolise plenty of air strikes and danger from above. Birds fall into a similar role in The Birds as war planes attacking enemies.  The story itself has quite a dull, sad tone, which could be relating to the war especially with all the attacks on Melanie throughout the course of the film, getting worse and worse every time. Along with the birds often attacking Melanie, they attack the children a lot as well; these are some of the most vulnerable characters in the film, and children would have been extremely vulnerable during the war- when attacked by the birds they are not with their families, leaving them abandoned and afraid. So the birds could be interpreted as symbolic of war machines. (Gradesaver, 2019).

Fig. 3- Lydia Meets Melanie [Still]

Another Freudian interpretation for the birds in the film could be that they represent all the women within Mitch's life. 'The women all have a relationship with Mitch that is interrupted by Melanie’s arrival: His mother, Lydia, his ex-lover Annie (Suzanne Pleshette), and his little sister Cathy (Veronica Cartwright). Each woman flocks around Mitch until the powerfully sexy Melanie shows up and, like an object being tossed into a flock of birds, causes them to disperse.' (Saporito, J. 2015). This would then result in the birds attacking Melanie, frustrated by her presence ending up in blind attacks of rage. 'It is about three needy women (literally 'birds') - and a fourth from a younger generation - each flocking around and vying for varying degrees of affection and attention from the sole, emotionally-cold male lead, and the fragile tensions, anxieties and unpredictable relations between them.' (Saporito, J. 2015). The attacks end up always linking back to representing the way the mother feels about Melanie, afraid that Mitch will leave her alone with nobody, representing her love, anger, jealousy and pain. With this Freudian interpretation in mind, the birds would have never attacked if Melanie did not pursue her interest in Mitch.

Looking into the birds and Melanie more closely, the attacks only begin once she arrives in pursue of Mitch, with her overconfident sexuality and charm leading her easily into his arms, she claims the love birds were for Cathy (who she never met before) but would only go to such great lengths in order to win over Mitch, who thought she was just a trickster. 'This implies that the birds are a manifestation of sex, some galvanic hormonal storm that whisks sleepy Bodega Bay into a great communal lather.' or, 'Alternatively, they might be viewed as an eruption of rage. The film's first act, after all, is an uncomfortable buildup of tension (both sexual and social), an ongoing joust of loaded glances and teasing evasions. Its characters are so guarded, so gamey, so disconnected from their own emotions, that something's got to give.' (Brooks, S. 2012).

Fig.4- The Birds Gather [Still]

Overall, the birds in The Birds are very complicated in terms of symbolism. They could represent many things or even just be an uprising of nature that just happens to attack around this time at Bodega Bay. The reason the attacks are by birds were never explicitly explained by the book, or by Hitchcock. The film itself leaves the audience on a cliffhanger, with Mitch, Melanie, Cathy and Lydia all driving away from Bodega Bay with thousands of different birds surrounding them. From the sources looked at in this review, it can be summarised that the birds represent chaos, rage and uncertainty revolving around Mitch and the girls within his life. There will never really be a definitive conclusion about the birds in The Birds, but as far as symbolism goes for a Hitchcock film, chaos and impending doom based around women is one of the most discussed theories out there. 

Illustrations:

Figure 1: The Birds (1960) Original Poster [Online] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056869/mediaviewer/rm1418251264 Accessed on: 31/01/19

Figure 2: The First Attack [Film Still] At: https://alfredhitchblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/08/the-birds-1963-birds-just-dont-go-around-attacking-people-without-no-reason/ 2/02/19

Figure 3: Lydia Meets Melanie [Film Still] At: [WEBSITE DOWN] Accessed on: 31/01/19

Figure 4: The Birds Gather [Film Still] At: http://www.jasonbovberg.com/hitchcock-conversations-the-birds-1963/ Accessed on: 31/01/19

Bibliography:

Brooks, X. (2012) My Favourite Hitchcock, The Birds [Online] At: https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/jul/31/my-favourite-hitchcock-the-birds Accessed on 31/01/19

Gradesaver. (2019) The Birds Symbols, Allegorys, Motifs [Online] At: https://www.gradesaver.com/the-birds-film/study-guide/symbols-allegory-motifs Accessed on: 31/01/19

Huff, C. (2018) Hitchcock Conversations: The Birds [Online] At: http://www.jasonbovberg.com/hitchcock-conversations-the-birds-1963/

Saporito, J. (2015) What is the Freudian representation of The Birds? [Online] At: http://screenprism.com/insights/article/what-is-the-freudian-interpretation-of-the-birds Accessed on: 31/01/19