Explaining the birds in The Birds

Given all of her deviation from normal societal roles, the birds ultimately force Melanie to play the gender roles equated with Lydia. Each bird attack comes at a moment when Melanie tries to reassert some of the freedom she has at the beginning of the film and continue until Melanie finally enters a state of complete submission. The first attack is provoked by Melanie's initial assault on the Brenner household and her subsequent continuing indifference to Mitch's sexual advances. Rather than simply giving in to Mitch when he sees her in the boat, Melanie resists and is attacked by a gull, which forces her into the position of damsel in distress.

The second attack comes at Cathy's birthday party, when Melanie shrugs off her maternal duties and ventures up the hill with Mitch instead of staying behind with the other women to watch the children. By the end of the scene, the viewer sees Melanie frantically running around trying to protect the children. The birds have successfully forced her back into a maternal behavior pattern. The third attack tries to force Melanie to be dependent on Mitch to save the family from the swallows that storm down the chimney. However, Melanie asserts herself here by being the one to lead the family out of the house to safety. It is for this reason that the attacks must continue.

The fourth attack on the school house forces Melanie to be maternal once again. She protects Cathy and her friend by helping them into the station wagon. Hitchcock's use of a station wagon here is interesting as it serves as a symbol of Melanie's impending entrapment within the confines of suburban motherhood. Whereas in her Aston Martin she was a masterful driver, when forced into the station wagon Melanie does not know how to act or use the car to escape. She fails to think to release the emergency bake and let the car roll down the hill. This is one of the first examples of the effect that the bird attacks have on Melanie.

The fifth attack on the town forces Melanie into her first true state of submission and dependence. Trying to escape the birds, Melanie seeks refuge in the phone booth, which looks remarkably like a cage, and can not escape from it until Mitch helps her to do so. A similar thing happens in the later attack on the house. Before, Melanie knew how to handle herself when the same room was under attack by the swallows, but now she simply squirms on the couch and lets Mitch take on the masculine role of protector.