The Birds

Mrs. Hocken’s characterization draws entirely from her interactions with Nat. Indeed, her whole narrative existence is defined by her status as Nat’s wife, for she is the only main character without a first name. Nat never says or thinks of her name. He calls her “Mammy” once when he mentions her to the children.

Her lack of a name does not mean that Mrs. Hocken has no personality, however. She is an industrious homemaker, a supportive spouse, and a devoted mother. She shows fortitude when she calmly bandages Johnny and Nat after separate bird assaults. She becomes emotionally vulnerable during the siege, but shows that side of herself only to Nat, whose presence gives her support, if not solace.

Mrs. Hocken is a cautious person, often warning Nat or pleading with him not to take risks, yet she is willing to take risks if it means her family can stay together. When Nat decides to visit the farm to find food, Mrs. Hocken begs, rather dramatically, “Take us with you, […] we can’t stay here alone. I’d rather die than stay here alone” (95). She trusts her husband to protect them, but she is also Nat’s partner throughout the ordeal: She coordinates with him, keeps the children calm with him, and maintains the cottage with him. She also tries to maintain hope; her last lines in the story are about the possibility that America might help the country fight the birds, just as America joined the British in the fight against the fascists in World War II. Her hope, however slight, shows that she fears defeat but is not willing to admit it. Like Nat, she wishes for a normal life, for a world that makes sense.

Mr. and Mrs. Trigg appear briefly in the story, but their contributions to the narrative are valuable. Their dialogue provides context for readers; their personalities contrast distinctly with Nat’s; and their tragic ends supply a source of true horror to the plot.

Mrs. Trigg is a homemaker with a kind manner and an incurious mind. When Nat goes to the farm to ask if the Triggs had any trouble from the birds the night before, Mrs. Trigg “came to the door, beaming, broad, a good-tempered woman” (67); as the narration follows Nat’s point of view, this description of Mrs. Trigg indicates that Nat has a good opinion of his employer’s wife. Mrs. Trigg is friendly and likes to engage in small talk, but because she is a homemaker on a farm in 1950s Cornwall, her conversation focuses on normal, everyday topics. She shows interest in Nat’s opinions and is happy to speculate about the origin of the severe cold weather, but when Nat tells her about his battle with the birds, he can “see from her eyes that she thought his story was the result of a nightmare” (67). In this moment, Mrs. Trigg is almost a reader surrogate, as most readers would likewise find Nat’s story nightmarish—yet she is also a foil to readers, who know his experience was not a dream. Her incredulity, though it is essentially rational, accentuates Nat’s psychological isolation, and her apparent unwillingness to even entertain the possibility of danger creates a mounting sense of dread in the narrative.

Mr. Trigg is a farmer and shows good sense at the beginning of the story when he predicts that a hard winter is coming. However, his sense seems to disappear when he has to confront anything strange and unpredictable. Nat knows this aspect of Mr. Trigg’s character, just as he knows that Mrs. Trigg is uncomfortable thinking about unfamiliar matters. When pondering whether the Triggs will prepare their house for the birds’ assault, Nat sarcastically concludes, “Too easy-going. […] Maybe they’d laugh at the whole thing. Go off to a dance or a whist drive” (72). It turns out he is correct; they will not prepare their house, and they are laughing at the danger flapping toward the farm.

The last time Nat sees Mr. Trigg alive, the farmer’s “cheerful, rubicund face” smiles, and he says, “It looks as though we’re in for some fun” (78). He is not taking the situation seriously—and, retrospectively, his remark holds a morbid irony, as “fun” is not in store for him. He quickly shares the town gossip about the Russians poisoning the birds, but he is more interested in using the gulls for target practice. He is a gentleman farmer, after all, and gentleman farmers take pride in their hunting prowess. Mr. Trigg’s foolhardy self-assurance foreshadows his house’s downfall.

The Triggs’ deaths are tragic because they were inevitable. Their stubborn dismissal of serious concerns warned Nat and the readers that they had doomed themselves. Nevertheless, there is a sense of shock when Nat discovers the corpses. The Triggs died indoors, all the windows in their house smashed in. Mr. Trigg’s body is by the telephone, suggesting the farmer finally realized the seriousness of the situation and tried to call the exchange for help. Mrs. Trigg’s body lies upstairs in a bedroom doorway, a broken umbrella beside her. Readers can deduce that she was using the umbrella in a useless attempt to defend herself. Nat does not linger over them and does not tell his wife the truth about their fates. His dispassionate behavior might indicate that he is focused on surviving the birds’ war, so there is no time to mourn the people who refused to take him seriously.