The Birds

The attack on the schoolchildren in Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963) is one of the most intense scenes in the entire film. The cries of the children interspersed with the ceaseless crowing, combined with the images of the children’s agonized faces fragmented by the black swarms of birds, is painful to experience. Hitchcock calls attention to the birds’ assault on one particular child: a bespectacled young girl who falls while running. Her glasses shatter on the ground, and viewers see a close-up shot of the broken lenses. This reminds the audience of a similar shot in Strangers on a Train, where Hitchcock shows Miriam’s broken glasses on the ground, the symbol of her destruction. 

Glasses on a woman are traditionally used in Hitchcock films to represent the power of her gaze, her independence and her assertiveness. The young schoolgirl’s education, however elementary, reinforces the power of her gaze. In this case, the birds may symbolize patriarchal society’s suppression of woman’s power. Stripping a woman of her gaze strips her of the authentic, vrai part of her identity. The birds force the women they attack to succumb to the homogeneity of their swarm, to become non-individuated beings themselves. The birds serve this function throughout the film. An attack immediately follows the conversation between Mitch and Melanie at Cathy’s birthday party in which Mitch cannot believe Melanie has a job and supports herself independently. In fact, the bird attacks only seem on the brink of stopping when Melanie’s transformation from an independent socialite to a domesticated housewife is complete. As Mitch drives the family away, the injured Melanie nestles in Lydia’s arms. It is clear her place in the family is cemented.