Miss Brill Free Essays

The selected passage is from the end of the short story Miss Brill, beginning where Miss Brill sees the boy and girl who sits down on the bench near her right to the end of the story. In â€Å"Miss Brill,† by Katherine Mansfield, we are introduced to the titular woman called Miss Brill who finds Sundays magical until she is forced to step out of her daydream and face reality. Every Sunday Miss Brill, who is presumed to be an English school teacher, goes to the Jardins Publiques and takes her â€Å"special seat† to look forward to listening to the conversations of others. We will write a custom essay sample on Miss Brill or any similar topic only for you Order Now This lonely older woman eavesdrops on others and starts to view everything she observes on Sundays in the form of a choreographed theatrical performance in which everything, herself included, plays a role. This is a place where she feels as though she â€Å"belongs†, in a sort of unreal drama that is conjured up in her own mind. However, one Sunday her fantasy is shattered by the inconsiderate and harsh remarks of a young couple. Mansfield shows us how hurtful the truth can be to people who haven’t realized or accepted the reality in which they live. The narrative is focalized through the character of Miss Brill and this allows the reader to see what the character sees and feel what the character feels. Katherine Mansfield exhibits a detailed characterization of Miss Brill. We see everything through the eyes of Miss Brill, and through dramatic irony we often see or comprehend situations differently and perhaps more accurately than she does. Through it, it can be seen that in reality, Miss Brill is constantly by herself, she sits alone on a bench with her old fur that she seems to treasure more than anything and watches the world pass before her. The furpiece can be thought of as a symbol of the owner. Both are of an age and the appearance of the thing itself is wearing down, just as the frail Miss Brill is. She sees other people sitting on benches Sunday after Sunday and thinks of them as â€Å"funny†¦ odd, silent, nearly all old†¦ as though they’d just come from dark little rooms. † Rather than see herself as one of them, she creates a fantasy world to escape facing the truth. The two minor characters that appear in the excerpt are the boy and girl who sits down on the bench. They appear to be the â€Å"hero and heroine† of Miss Brills imagination as they were described as being â€Å"beautifully dressed; they were in love. The hero and heroine, of course, just arrived from his father’s yacht. † Katherine Mansfield used the two characters to reveal the fragility of Miss Brill by having her â€Å"prepared to listen† to what they say, even though in the end thetruth that they talk about hurts her deeply. The young couple ridiculesand make fun of the â€Å"stupid old thing at the end there,† and in that instant her dream crumbles. They voice a reality that Miss Brill has been running away from and as they say â€Å"why does she come here at all – who wants her? † Through the minor characters, Miss Brill’s delusional nature is revealed as she has been rejecting reality all this time, trying to hold on to her illusions. Yet also exhibiting her fragility when in after she hears the couple’s conversation, she ceases to be able to carry on per usual. After her fantasy world is shattered, Miss Brill solemnly walks home, passing up things that she used to look forward to like the slice of honey-cake that was her Sunday treat. She sits on her bed, puts the fur back in its box, and thinks she hears something crying. The fur is symbolic of something old and lonely that has lost its beauty over the years. The symbolism of putting the fur back in its box is like placing dreams away. And in the end, it is not the fur that is crying, but Miss Brill. Her fantasy is over and the truth of her sad reality sinks in to her. How to cite Miss Brill, Papers Miss Brill Free Essays Mansfield did a really good Job at using theme through characterization. She first used Miss Broil’s attitude and appearance. Miss. We will write a custom essay sample on Miss Brill or any similar topic only for you Order Now Brills was a very classy old lady, â€Å"Miss Brills was glad that she had decided on her fur. † Back in the period that Miss Brills lived, it was very elegant to wear a type of fur around your neck, this usually symbolized wealth. The theme here would be acceptance, this connects to the world because there is always that one piece of clothing everyone wants or wears as a status symbol. The author also uses characterization through action or incident when Miss Brills is in her own world acting as if she is part off play when two young people pull her back to reality. † It’s her if-our which is so funny, â€Å"giggled the girl. â€Å"It’s exactly like a fried whiting. † This shocks Miss Brills because she has never experienced insult before, she’s always controlling what she wants to see and hear. When the young couple makes fun of her fur she realizes that she doesn’t live in a fantasy and she has a hard time handling that. The theme here is reality. All of us have that escape, we can think of something and our whole attitude changes like Miss Brills, and maybe hat’s what some of us need an escape from the harsh world that is reality. The author portrayed Miss Brills as a very detailed emotional character from the beginning. The section that most symbolized that emotion was â€Å"on her way home she usually bought a slice of honey- cake at the baker’s. It was her Sunday treat; sometimes there was an almond in in her slice, sometimes not. It made a great difference. â€Å"If there was an almond it was like carrying home a little tiny present. † This one simple thing impacted her whole entire day. That single almond determined either or not she was going to have a good day or a bad day. It’s really sad that all Miss Brills had to look forward to what may be the possibility an almond in her honey- cake. This relates to society because there are a lot of people who are introverts, and rely on a tiny piece of glory like Miss Brills does. Human society is so obsessed with what we have going on that we don’t branch out and interact with other people, which makes it hard for people like Miss Brills to fit in or feel important. Tibias Wolff used characterization through Hunters in the snow really well, with Tub, Frank and Kenny. Tibias used the theme reflection for Tub as well as physical characterization, â€Å"You ought to see yourself,† the driver said. â€Å"He looks Just like a beach ball with a hat on, doesn’t he? Doesn’t he, Frank? † People Judge people everyday because of their weight, what clothes they wear, what backpack they have and whom they hang out with, our society is based on prejudices, seen in the real world as well as the book. Jenny’s characterization would definitely be through his dialogue because he was just like every bully in the world, â€Å"Okay,† Kenny said. â€Å"l wont say a word. Like I won’t say anything about a certain babysitter. † He’s using the theme of power he thinks he has with something someone willingly trusted him with and using it against him, people do this when they want something or they are Just rude. As for Frank his characterization and theme was shown through his emotion, â€Å"l mean _really_ in love. † He squeezed Tub’s wrist. â€Å"With your whole being. † Frank was a very emotional person, you saw it through the way he treated Tub, and he was torn because if he didn’t act like Kenny, Kenny would have mistreated his deepest secret. Frank also had relations with a babysitter, which he thought he loved; this may have Just been a cover up, for his unwillingness to want to grow older. She possibly made him feel alive again. This happens in real life too people get to a certain age where they want to feel young again, so they make modifications to their body and their life style. These authors did a really amazing Job at using characterization through their stories I really felt like I understood the characters and what they were going through and how it related to my life or the world around me. How to cite Miss Brill, Papers