Film Language and Representation

The extract I chose was the parlor scene, when Norman and Marion are talking. This scene is crucial in conveying the bird symbol, since this scene has the highest concentration of birds in it. The parlor behind Norman's office is filled with stuffed birds with the largest of them mounted on the walls. The first two we see through Marion's eyes as she enters the room: the spread winged owl and a large black crow or raven, both mounted on the walls. Marion sits on the couch, which happens to be under the crow on its perch on the wall, to eat the sandwiches Norman brought her. He sits in a chair in the corner across from her, in front of the wall with the owl, and another large bird, possibly a type of hawk. Smaller songbird types are seen displayed around the telephone on the table next to Marion, and, a pheasant along with a long pointy beaked bird sit on the bureau behind Norman.

A couple of inferences could be drawn from the physical depiction of the room with the types of birds and, part of the conversation between Marion and Norman. The owl and the hawk are predators; the crow/raven is both a predator and a scavenger. The songbirds are the prey/victims of owls, hawks and often crows. The songbirds are next to Marion with the crow above her. At the beginning of their conversation Norman tells Marion that she "eats like a bird", meaning a songbird, not a predator. Janet Leigh seems to illustrate this by picking at that one piece of bread for practically the whole conversation. He goes on to say that the statement is actually a falsity because "birds really eat an awful lot" and that he prefers to stuff birds because "they look well stuffed, because they are kind of passive to begin with". He places his hand, almost affectionately, on the smaller bird next to him when he is describing his hobby as filling his time. The smaller stuffed (dead) birds could symbolize Norman's conflict with not only his mother but all women they are better dead and unresponsive. Norman says at one point in the conversation about his mother "But she's harmless, she's as harmless as one of those stuffed birds".

It's interesting that both of the larger predatory birds, the owl and the hawk are mounted on each side of the picture that hides the peephole into Marion's room. (On a side note, "bird", is also a British slang term for a young woman, possibly being influenced by Hitchcock’s background in Britain.) In addition, Norman's head is framed between those two large birds (with the shadow of the crow's head appearing underneath the owl) during much of the conversation when he talks about his mother. The setup of this shot helps to portray how Norman’s mother controls him, him living in her shadow. I also thought it eerie that each shot of Marion standing before leaving the parlor has the stuffed crow's beak pointing right at her neck. Another appearance of birds is the placement of two framed prints of small birds outside of Marion's bathroom, one of which gets knocked off the wall by Norman when he finds her body.