Hitchcock used his film “The Birds” to equate the evil of what we can’t understand with the evil of the foreign in the time of the Cold War. When we first meet Melanie Daniels, she is depicted as a powerful woman, asking for what she wants and even pretending to be in charge of the pet shop. However, as soon as Melanie Daniels enters the world of Bodega Bay, just north of San Francisco, she is no longer in that same world, though she doesn’t know it. In conversations between Melanie and Annie Hayworth, it is clear she is no longer in her comfort zone and she hesitates to ask for what she needs. She is at the mercy of the birds, just like every other citizen of the town, and in a world where nobody knows her. In the Cold War, there was constant paranoia and fear surrounding the threat of communism. Melanie’s entrance into Bodega Bay brought with her a threat of attack, just like communism did to Europe.

One of the largest reasons it created a threat was because it was new. The novelty of Melanie’s time in Bodega Bay created panic, even if not directly related to her or her actions. The birds evoked terror in the citizens upon her arrival, settling the town into a state of paranoia and mirroring how many Europeans felt at the threat of communism. Only when it is decided she is no longer being a threat did the birds cease to terrorize the bay, signifying a now established comfort.