Closely Examine the Character of Melanie in Hitchcock’s the Birds

The Birds is a psychological thriller direct by Alfred Hitchcock. It centres around Melanie, a vernal city girl, who journeys into danger into a short coastal town called Bodega Bay to be given a pr good turnical joke on a potential l over, Mitch. A serial of unfortunate Bird onsets follow her and wreck havoc on the town and its inhabitants. As the rent progresses, Melanie tries, on several occasions, to go against the social norm of women of the 1950s all time she does she gets punished and gradually destruct until she becomes the dominant ideology.At the start of the film, Melanie seems strong and individual. From the process she is seen as an individualist. In the rootage photo she is beginning(a) seen walking down a street in a fitted crownwork and pencil skirt, this was seen as too intriguing and was not the usual dress tag for a 1950s wo composition the norm would be a dress with all a swing skirt or a poodle skirt. Along with the fitted clothes, Melanie has a bsolutely prep ar hair and perfectly multicolored fingernails these ar signs of her emotional severalise and lead change through turn up the film.Also in this shot the earshot can hear a wolf whistle from a man directed at Melanie, she turns and smiles, telling the audience that she enjoys male attention and is comfortable and reassured in the city environment. In the side by side(p) scene, Melanie is in a fizzle shop. This is when Mitch is first seen when Melanie first sees Mitch she immediately becomes flirtatious and thinks that she is in encounter of what is happening, when really Mitch is in control as he knows ex flakely who Melanie is part she does not know who he is. afterwards Mitch plays a pr crookical joke on Melanie in the bird shop, Melanie sets out to speak to him again, and when she finds out that he is not staying in his dwelling in the city barely in a small town up the coast, Bodega Bay, she sets out on her own detailed practical joke. This journey wil l steer her out of her comfort zone, the city, and put her in unknown surroundings and ultimately danger. During the drive, Melanie looks actually smug entirely is unaware that she is jaunt into danger.The actions of the two love birds in their detain and the speed of the car are on purpose made to look fake as to lull the audience in to a false sense of security and to cover the danger to come, this ties into the genre of deceit that is seen fetch up-to-end the film. When Melanie reaches Bodega Bay, it is quite obvious that she is out of bunk all the towns citizens are casually dressed which contrasts with Melanies impeccable hair and nails and her fitted clothes. Melanie is treated as trinket by the citizens that she encounters.After she plays her practical joke on Mitch at his house, she races him back to Bodega Bay exclusively he beats her and stands waiting for her. The bodily fluid is very light hearted as both(prenominal) characters are smiling but the irritat ion changes to become very serious as Melanie is struck by a fall guy on the head. This is the first bird bam and the first time, of many, that Mitch is there to obstetrical delivery her from danger. After the attack Melanie is composed once again but her gloves are blood stain and she does not wear them again, symbolising that her first layer of protection is gone.This first attack is the start of Melanies confident and independent exterior being pecked away by the birds. After the attack Melanie goes back to Mitchs and meets his mother, a very demanding and controlling woman. In these few scenes where they are together Melanie is seen with lofty list camera shots, exhibit that she is faint and powerless in their home, whilst Lydia is seen with low angle camera shots, demonstrating her power and dominance over the family and Melanie.In their following(a) encounter their roles in the abode switch Lydia becoming frail and broken whereas Melanie is now dominant and in control . The next significant change in Melanies character and emotional state is during the bird attack on the petrol station. Melanie shows an act of freedom and defiance by taking shelter in a knell Box, away from the security of Mitch and other men, but when she tries to get out again she is attacked by the birds, eventually the glass panels of the Telephone corner shatter, representing her fragility.High angle shows, once again, that Melanie is weak and powerless. The rouge on her fingernails is still intact but her hair is not as groomed as it started out, signifying that her emotional state and in dependency has been damaged again and she has been punished for her act of defiance. For the second time, Mitch has to come and rescue Melanie from the birds, showing that she is becoming more and more honest on the security of men, especially Mitch. During the penult attack by the birds Melanies state of mind changes nce again she has regained her strength and has taken over the ro le of mother of the family. This is shown by low angle camera shots and in her actions. When Mitchs sister, Cathy, gets sick, it is Melanie, not the mother, that takes her to the kitchen. However, these moments of defiance are short lived, for after the birds appear to claim left the house, Melanie hears bird sounds coming from the noggin and climbs the stairs, on her own, to see what it is.She hesitates at the door of the attic, there is a close up of her hand and her nails are still intact, and when she does extend the door, she does so only to find a flock of birds which attack her mercilessly. This, her last act of freedom, ends in disaster and her destruction as an independent woman. For the final time Mitch comes to rescue Melanie from the birds. Melanies destruction is symbolised by her spirit dishevelled and wrapped up in bandages. Mitch then carries Melanie to the car, demonstrating Melanies total dependence on Mitch.Melanies destruction is eventually symbolised by a n extreme close up of her nails, which are completely broken and chipped. The shipway in which Melanie changes over the course of The Birds, her variant of mind could be compared to a yo-yo. At the start she was completely independent and self-importance sufficient, but during different parts of the film she either lost some of her independence or gained some. By the end of the film, Melanie ends up being the polar-opposite of what she started out to be. At the end she was totally dependent on Mitch and had lost all independence. Making her the dominant ideology of a woman of the 1950s.