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Daphne Du Maurier's Short Story 'The Birds'

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Daphne du Maurier's short story “The Birds” (published in 1952) and Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 movie The Birds are both captivating pieces and share many themes and conflicts. However, the original storyline and characters written by Maurier are lost in its transition to the big screen. Hancock’s take on the story is much more geared to frighten and thrill an audience as he removes everything but the core themes of the story. In summary, the short novel “The Birds” is about a small family that lives near the sea shore in England. As the East wind blows it brings winter with it, and large flocks of a variety of birds. The birds act apart from their usually instincts and start attacking people during the tide changes. The movie, however, follows …show more content…
The most notable is the fact the the main characters are completely different. One follows a young couple where the other follows a small family. Other than just who the characters are there is a difference in how they act. In “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier we see the father taking charge and preparing his family and house for what is going to happen. In the movie the characters act in fear and are not thinking clearly about what would be the best way to survive. We even see the classic “Don’t open that door” scene, where any rational person would get as far away from the door as …show more content…
Daphne du Maurier was born and raised in London, England. With that, her version of the story takes place in the U.K. Alfred Hitchcock was born in the U.K. but spent much of his professional life working in the United States, specifically in Hollywood. So, it makes sense that both of these people would have their stories take place somewhere that they are familiar with. When reading “The Birds” it take a few paragraphs to get used to the style that Daphne writes in. The characters say things that wouldn’t always make sense to someone that does not live in England. Another thing for American readers to consider if the difference in time zones. The story often makes reference to the time of day and it can be confusing unless you consider the

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