What was Daphne Du Maurier attempting in .
In the short story "The Birds", Daphne Du Maurier tells us about how humans have a false superiority. They think that they are the most intelligent race in the world but by the end of the story we realize just how small and useless we actually are against nature. This makes me feel genuinely frightened because Du Maurier makes the prospect of nature being able to wipe out mankind, very realistic. This apocalyptic story contains many techniques used by Du Maurier to highlight the themes and ideas behind it. .
Nature causes the destruction of mankind by attacking people in a way that they thought was not possible. Humans think that they are the masters of the universe but when nature fights against them, the whole civilization is wiped out.
The story is based around Nat Hocken, his wife and two children, who live on the coast of Cornwall. One dreary, winter night, some birds manage to get inside the children's bedroom and deliberately attack them. When Nat tells the other villagers they inwardly do not believe that such a thing could have happened, but try and come up with logical explanations. Humans always believe that whenever there is a problem someone around the country or the world will come up with an explanation. Mrs. Trigg was one of the people that justified this further. "You ought to write up and ask the Guardian. They"d have some answer for it." The next day, the same thing is happening all over the country, thousands of birds are heading inland. The government can not give answers and declare a National Emergency. All humans are attacked by the birds and killed. Nat protects his family as best he can but deep down he knows that nature has won and the human race is to be wiped out pretty soon.
The story works very well because of the fact that it was constructed step by step. Each step helps put another brick in the wall and improves our understanding.