The Birds

Daphne du Maurier’s short story “The Birds” was first published in her 1952 collection, The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories. It is a Gothic horror story about a man who must protect his family from the brutal and inexplicably organized attacks perpetrated by the birds. Du Maurier’s tale evokes the social isolation of individuals in 1950s England, the British civilians’ memories of helplessness during the Blitz, and the fear of destructive natural forces. Alfred Hitchcock’s famous film The Birds (1963) adapts the story to great effect, but it is a loose adaptation that du Maurier did not appreciate.

Content Warning: This short story takes place after World War II and depicts the effects of war on the central character. Additionally, descriptions of the birds’ attacks may be unsettling for some readers.

Du Maurier was a 20th-century British author whose novels and short stories often explore complicated themes through the lens of a single character’s personal experience (a technique showcased most famously in her 1938 novel Rebecca, which was also adapted into a film by Hitchcock). In “The Birds,” this character is Nat Hocken, for whom there is little exposition: He has a “war-time disability” that qualifies him to receive a pension; he “did not work full-time at the farm”; and, “[a]lthough he was married with children, his was a solitary disposition; he liked best to work alone” (59).