book

The Birds by Daphne du Maurier

21 Pages 605 Words 1557 Views

“The Birds," written by Daphne du Maurier, is an avian apocalypse story of fantasy and horror. The story evolves around a farmer named Nat and his family in an isolated part of England going through attacks of growing number of gathered birds. The birds have developed a mass consciousness and took utter revenge for thousands of years of persecution. Consider it was written in the 1950s, this story is an allegorical masterpiece for its content. The author spoke to us through words: evil is often developed over time and almost always have two sides. The birds operate as more than simply bird in the story. they represent a malevolence force we face even to today: terrorism, murders, and violence. Who would had ever imagined the birds can get so fierce, with their mask so tiny harmless? What finally triggered for the evilness in the birds to explode? What might be going through the birds head when they sacrificed themselves just to bring more destruction for the human race? The answer was never fully solved in the story, thus made it more horrifying. However, Nat, being a realist, had sensed the existence of hatred in the birds: “Nat listened to the tearing sound of splintering wood, and wondered how many million years of memory were stored in those little brains, behind the stabbing beaks, the piercing eyes, now giving them this instinct to destroy mankind with all the deft precision of machines.” Most birds not merely are against the humans. The birds are set in seeking to destroy the humans. Nat has to fend off an entire flock that seems to have the destruction of human beings at the forefront of their consciousness. In this light, the birds can symbolize the forces of negation that are present in human consciousness. How human beings react to these forces is important, as such a reaction defines what it means to be human. Nat does not relax in his need to survive and persevere. This is an example of the symbolic value of the

Read Full Essay