Symbolism In The Birds

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Birds: Evil, Hopeful, Peaceful or All? Humanity finds itself, at one time or another, struggling with fear, chaos, and hope. In the song called “Black Bird” by Lennon McCartney, the black bird represents having hope in the midst of hard times. By visually analyzing Women with Raven (1904) by Pablo Picasso, the observer is able to compare the woman and the raven and see their physical similarities. In “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier, the birds are portrayed as war-like destroyers. By critically analyzing the symbols, language, and nature of these texts, the universal human significance of birds is conveyed: birds are generally war-like and evil in nature and only in certain circumstances portrayed as comforting and hopeful. The song “Black …show more content…

In this painting, the woman is lovingly stroking the raven; she has a ghost white face, wide, skeletal shoulders hunched over an extended neck, a pointed nose similar to a bird’s beak, and thin, long fingers. The woman’s physical qualities are like a bird and suggests an affinity with the raven she embraces. The raven she is holding is comforting to her, and the expression on her face seems to be in another realm that is away from her everyday life. Moreover, this painting was drawn during Picasso’s Blue Period (e.g. Bacigalupi, Don, Woman with a Crow, EMuseum). The intense blue background of the painting brings focus to the woman and the raven. Also, it reflects Picasso’s material circumstances at the time and the poor living conditions of the people in his neighborhood. The presence of the raven allows the observer to closely compare the women’s physical characteristics with the raven she is holding. Without the raven, the viewer may not be able to visually grasp how the women is embodying a …show more content…

The idea that part of human nature is similar to the qualities of a bird encourages an individual to reflect how they are. This is significant because it speaks deep in the heart of human experience and makes one ask why human and birds are both evil, war-like, and

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