A Comparison Between the Short Story and Film: The Birds
Ariel Shaw
English 112
Comparison-Contrast Essay
December 2, 2013
In this essay I will compare and the contrast the short story and film of “The Birds”. The short story was written by Daphne du Maurier and the film was directed by Hitchcock. The plot of the story is about flocks of birds who have started to behave in a weird way and begin attacking humans. In the short story of “The Birds” the main characters consisted of the Hockens family. The story took place in the 1950s in a rural area of England. The way the birds first attacked in the short story wasn’t very serious, only couple birds swooped down and got very close to the head of a farmer who was plowing his fields. The main characters didn’t worry much about the bird attacks and did not take all of the warnings and attacks seriously. All they did to protect their homes from the birds was shut and lock all of their windows and doors. In the short story the government took all of the attacks seriously and they started to move people out of their homes. The way that the short story ends isn’t much of an ending, we do not know what the resolution was and what happened to the main character. In the film of “The Birds the main characters consisted of Melanie Davis, Mitch Brenner, Annie Hayworth, Cathy Brenner, and Lydia Brenner. The film took place in the 1960s in two parts of California. The way the birds first attacked in the film was similar to the way they first attacked in the short story, in the film a sea gull swooped down and scratched Melanie Davis’ head. The main characters were very concerned with the birds behavior after the first attack and they took all of the signs and warnings seriously. They protected their homes by hanging wooden planks on their doors and windows. In the film police officers did not do anything to stop the attacks, they thought everything was normal. At the end of the film, the main characters manage to escape their home and head back to San Francisco while the
English 112
Comparison-Contrast Essay
December 2, 2013
In this essay I will compare and the contrast the short story and film of “The Birds”. The short story was written by Daphne du Maurier and the film was directed by Hitchcock. The plot of the story is about flocks of birds who have started to behave in a weird way and begin attacking humans. In the short story of “The Birds” the main characters consisted of the Hockens family. The story took place in the 1950s in a rural area of England. The way the birds first attacked in the short story wasn’t very serious, only couple birds swooped down and got very close to the head of a farmer who was plowing his fields. The main characters didn’t worry much about the bird attacks and did not take all of the warnings and attacks seriously. All they did to protect their homes from the birds was shut and lock all of their windows and doors. In the short story the government took all of the attacks seriously and they started to move people out of their homes. The way that the short story ends isn’t much of an ending, we do not know what the resolution was and what happened to the main character. In the film of “The Birds the main characters consisted of Melanie Davis, Mitch Brenner, Annie Hayworth, Cathy Brenner, and Lydia Brenner. The film took place in the 1960s in two parts of California. The way the birds first attacked in the film was similar to the way they first attacked in the short story, in the film a sea gull swooped down and scratched Melanie Davis’ head. The main characters were very concerned with the birds behavior after the first attack and they took all of the signs and warnings seriously. They protected their homes by hanging wooden planks on their doors and windows. In the film police officers did not do anything to stop the attacks, they thought everything was normal. At the end of the film, the main characters manage to escape their home and head back to San Francisco while the