The Use of Birds in Psycho
There are several instances in Psycho when birds are prevalent in the scene, leading the viewer to believe that they are more than just a coincidence. First of all, the leading lady's last name is Crane, which is especially symbolic after she is found by Norman and the bird photo on her wall is knocked down in his short-lived panic. The picture falls to the ground, just like Marion in the bathroom. Notably, when Lila and Sam check into their motel room, the photos on their walls are of flowers, not birds.Another example is the entirety of the parlor scene, including the conversation between Marion and Norman. One of the first things out of his mouth is "You eat like a bird," which begins the implication that Marion herself is the metaphorical bird. This idea is slightly more concrete when Norman is shot from a low angle about halfway through their conversation (1:50 in the video clip). There is one of his stuffed birds behind his head, looking down at Marion. This seems symbolic of Norman stalking Marion like predator and prey, just like his beloved birds do. Norman stuffed birds because of their passive nature, foreshadowing his killing of the innocent.
Even though Norman was acting as his mother, do you think he intended to kill Marion from the beginning as the birds would imply, or did mother really just take over in an act of jealousy induced rage?
In my opinion, I think Norman didn't want to kill Marion. Because mother got so easily jealous of him she took over. In the parlor scene, when Marion says Norman should put her in an institution, Norman immediately sits forward and gets very serious. It shows right around this point the mother part of him really came through and got angry. She was jealous but also angry. This is what drove her to kill Marion. Even though Norman too would be angry, mother was the dominant role in the murder.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Norman wanted to kill his mother from the beginning. I think that his mental issues start to kick in once he sees someone he's attracted to because, as the police detective explained at the end of the film, his alter ego becomes jealous of his "Norman" ego, and as his mother ego he kills the women he was initially attracted to as his Norman ego.
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