At its heart, "The Birds" is a story of survival. The plot and the thematic foci begin and end with Nat Hocken's struggle to survive the bird attacks. Du Maurier frames the story with these attacks, opening with a sole bird pecking at Nat's bedroom window and ending with a swarm bombarding the Hocken's home, seemingly desperate to get to the family huddling inside. Thus, Nat's main activity during the duration of the story is to protect himself and his family against this dangerous onslaught.
The cool-headed Nat works carefully and methodically to insure his family's survival. After the first attack, he boards up the windows, noting that they are the birds' easiest point of entry. He then reinforces the doors and blocks the chimney. Even during the frightening attacks, Nat continually focuses on.....
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