Whilst the plot of Alfred Hitchcock's Birds does present a clear protagonist in the form of Melanie Daniels, there isn't a clear hero character reflected in Propp's theory of characters. On the one hand, Mitch's character could perhaps be the hero of Propp's theory in the movie as he daringly drives the protagonist Melanie, his sister and mother to safety away from Bodega Bay. In addition, you could also argue that he is the hero as it is implied that he is the possible love interest of protagonist Melanie in the story, similar in theory to the princess subject of Propp's theory, whom is the hero's reward for completing his mission. However, the story is not as simple as this as the end leaves an uncertainty in the plot over whether Mitch as the supposed hero has finished the mission of driving his family and Melanie to safety, as the synopsis describes Mitch 'drives slowly driving through seemingly infinite flocks of birds into the sunrise'. Therefore, Propp's theory of characters in the narrative is subverted therefore as it is unclear throughout the story which character is one of Propp's proposed character's explained in his theory of characters in a narrative. At best, you could describe Mitch's character as the helper for helping Melanie, his mother and sister and other characters in the story. First Mitch helps treat Melanie after hit by the seagull, then later helps shoo the birds away when attacking his sister and her friends at her birthday party, then barricades Melanie and his family inside by boarding the windows and doors. Another issue is that there is no clear villain in the plot either; the birds are the one's attacking others in the story. This is done perhaps by Hitchcock to subvert Propp's theory of typical characters, specifically the villain. Because the antagonist is shown as the birds, it become much more unclear who the clear villain is, or if there is a villain at all, rendering the atmosphere of the story far more sinister and unclear to the audience as there is not a typical Human villain, the plot plays on the unseemingly irrational fear of birds. The Father character is also not presented in the plot, although there is however a strong and prominent character role of the Mother, more specifically Mitch's mother. Like in Hitchcock's Psycho, the role of the mysterious, strangely uptight mother is portrayed in the film Birds. Perhaps, the role of the Mother is an alternative to the traditional role of the Father, who is to congratulate the hero and give him his best wishes. Nonetheless, there is no main Father role played by a specific character in the film Birds. Overall, i believe that the various characters of Propp's character theory in narrative are not conformed to in the film Birds as the is no traditional character role played by any character, as the main characters have roles and duties which are unclear throughout the movie. There is no clear Hero, Villain, Helper, Donor, False Hero or Father role performed in the film and this greatly subverts Propp's theory of characters in narrative when applied to the film Birds. This misuse of clarity in set characters however does add to the growing sinister and uncertain atmosphere of the film, from where the protagonist Melanie stares up into the sky to see a large flock of birds, straight to the end, where there is more uncertainty than ever with Mitch carefully driving away with a fatally wounded Melanie and his family in tow through an infinite flock of birds, hearing reports of bird attacks in nearby towns and communities.
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