Jill is Nat’s daughter and older child. Birds attack her and her younger brother Johnny in their bedroom in an early event that helps their father appreciate the threat the birds pose. Nat picks Jill up from school before the birds’ second attack and only makes it home with the help of Mr. Trigg’s vehicle. Jill repeatedly expresses fear of the birds and looks to her parents for reassurance.
Jill Hocken Quotes in The Birds
The The Birds quotes below are all either spoken by Jill Hocken or refer to Jill Hocken. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the New York Review Books edition of The Birds published in 2008.
The Birds
Quotes
“I don’t want a gun,” said Nat, “but I’d be obliged if you’d run Jill home. She’s scared of the birds.”
He spoke briefly. He did not want to talk in front of Jill.
“OK,” said the farmer, “I’ll take her home. Why don’t you stop behind and join the shooting match? We’ll make the feathers fly.”
Jill climbed in, and turning the car, the driver sped up the lane. Nat followed after. Trigg must be crazy.
What use was a gun against a sky of birds?
Related Characters:
Nat Hocken (speaker), Mr. Trigg (speaker), Jill Hocken
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
That was the line. Keep her busy, and the children too. Move about, eat, drink; always best to be on the go.
Related Characters:
Nat Hocken, Mrs. Hocken / Nat’s Wife, Jill Hocken, Johnny Hocken
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Birds LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jill Hocken Character Timeline in The Birds
The timeline below shows where the character Jill Hocken appears in The Birds. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Birds
...just turned, so the birds wouldn’t be desperate for food yet. While walking his daughter Jill to the bus stop, Nat looks for the birds but doesn’t see them.
(full context)
...grabs a hoe from the cottage as a weapon and then rushes to pick up Jill from the bus stop. On the way, he calls the operator from a phone box...
(full context)
...the “small windows” and “stout walls” of his cottage, and are in great danger. As Jill starts to cry, he instructs his wife to make tea and cocoa, thinking, “Keep her...
(full context)
...spread their dripping upon it.” When “a piece of the dripping” runs down Johnny’s chin, Jill scolds him: “Manners, Johnny.”
(full context)