The Birds story

movie: The Birds (1963) · 1963

The Birds is a 1963 American natural horror-thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Loosely based on the 1952 story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier, it focuses on a series of sudden and unexplained violent bird attacks on the people of Bodega Bay, California, over the course of a few days.

8 total · 1 choice · 5 major · 2 minor

ThemeLevelMotivation
nature's revenge choice Although nothing was made clear inside the story, there are suggestions that the birds are taking vengeance on humanity. "Hitchcock stated in an interview that the birds in the film rise up against the humans to punish them for taking nature for granted" cf. Wikipedia.
brother and sister major Mitch and Cathy.
human vs. inexplicable adversity major It was entirely inexplicable to people what caused the birds to be aggressive, or what intelligence drove them to pick targets as they did.
mother and daughter major Lydia and Cathy.
mother and son major Lydia and Mitch.
romantic love major The story concerns how Mitch and Melanie fell in love.
disapproving parent minor Lydia was lukewarm towards Melanie at first and said explicitly that she was trying to make up her mind.
practical joking minor Mitch made a reference to Melanie's childish habit of performing practical jokes, one of which she had tried at the bird shop.