Preview

Fiction Essay Engl 102

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1077 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Fiction Essay Engl 102
Alyssa Hallinan
Mr. Morgan
English 102
19 February 2015
Loneliness in the heart of “Miss Brill”
Thesis: In “Miss Brill,” the main character of the story undergoes a change from a content woman to a lonely woman, when her distorted reality is revealed to herself.
1. Throughout the story Miss Brill is perceived as a woman who is content with her life but as the story hits a crucial point she devolves into a very lonely and depressed old woman, when her distorted reality is revealed to herself.
a. She took out her fur, which she groomed to look like new.
b. When she sat on the bench she “always looked forward to” listening to conversations.
2. Miss Brill came a point where her character was the happiest she has ever been.
a. She imagines that the reality on front of her is a play and all of the people are the actors.
b. She draws herself into the false reality by realizing that she also is an actor.
c. This realization brings her to tears.
3. Finally, her false reality is shattered when a young couple talks about her calling her a “stupid old thing” (197).
a. The girl laughed at her “fried whiting” fur calling it “funny” (197).
b. Their rude remarks about Miss Brill cause her to think about what other people must think of her.
4. In the last paragraph of the story her attitude drastically shifts from happy to lonely.
a. She passes by her “Sunday treat” (197).
b. She “quickly, without looking, laid [the fur] inside [its box]” (197).
c. Miss Brill’s last thought in the story was that “she heard something crying” when she put the fur in the box (197).

Alyssa Hallinan
Mr. Morgan
English 102
19 February 2015
Loneliness in the heart of “Miss Brill” Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill” is a short story that briefly analyzes the distorted reality of one Miss Brill. Every Sunday she goes to the public gardens to hear the band, and to people watch. She imagines the lives and stories behind each character that she sees. In “Miss Brill,” the main character of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Knowing Miss Brill was listening, he continues and questions, “Why does she come here at all-who wants her? Why doesn't she keep her silly old mug at home?” Miss Brill begins to feel self-deception and is forced to realize that she wasn’t the center of attention or an important part of the crowd full of strangers. She no longer feels as if she’s making a difference to those around her. Miss Brill returned to her little dark room. She does not even feel worthy enough to get herself a small treat at the baker's like she usually did. Also, she takes off her fur scarf which she was so proud of because shame is all she feels. There seems to be a change in her and how she feels about herself after the two young people rudely awakened…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Weatherall did not have an easy life. She was jilted at the altar, lost a child, and later on played the role of mother and father when her husband died. When she talks about herself she talks about all the hard work that usually corresponds to the man along with the typical responsibilities of a mother that she had to do. Even when lying on her deathbed, she tries to convince herself and those around her that she is in perfect health and makes plans for the following days. Miss Brill, on the other side, is an English teacher in France who lives an uneventful and routinary life, but maintains a panglossian attitude. She spends her days at the park eavesdropping and every once in a while she wears her old fur wrap with great pride. The only thing that makes Ms. Brill’s life better is finding an almond…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The protagonists of "Miss Brill" and "You're Ugly Too" share common occurrences related to their isolation. Both women are educators that are displaced from their place of origin: Miss Brill teaches English in France but is originally from New Zealand, and Zoe Hendricks is a history teacher in rural Illinois originally from the Northeast United States. Neither Miss Brill nor Zoe are able to build any kind of meaningful relationships with their students or peers. It is ambiguously illustrated in "Miss Brill" that Miss Brill does not relate to her students: "...She had a queer, shy feeling at telling her English pupils how she spent her Sunday afternoons" . It is more directly stated how Zoe relates to her students. "Once she had pampered her students, singing theme songs, letting them call her at home, even, and ask personal questions. Now she was losing sympathy. They were beginning to seem different" It is only implied in "Miss Brill" that the protagonist does not have any close friends, as all of her activities are done alone and with great attention to self. For Zoe, however, it is made very clear that she has no meaningful relationships. She had gone out on dates with local men, but they all ended in astrangement as she "came teo realize that all men, deep down, wanted Heidi," the ideal woman. The isolation caused by displacement and the lack of connection with the locals is the basis for isolation that both characters share, but the manner in how each character copes with isolation is completely different.…

    • 1282 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mansfield’s work in “Miss Brill”, is mainly about a lonely school teacher that creates a false reality for herself. Miss Brill finds herself at the Public Gardens every Sunday afternoon in her certain spot to eavesdrop into others conversations. Miss Brill over hears a young couple ridicule her beloved coat and cruel jokes. Her fantasy is now over, and feels unwanted. The shy old lady finally realizes the ugly truth.…

    • 897 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    D. She mimics the dismissive attitude of those she is criticizing as if hunting flamingoes to extinction is of little importance…

    • 755 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    1. There is evidence in the story that Miss Brill might be experiencing some mental or…

    • 905 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    literatur

    • 1613 Words
    • 7 Pages

    “Miss Brill,“ is one of her finest stories, capturing in a moment an event that will forever change the life of the title character. Miss Brill is an older woman of indeterminate age who scrapes by teaching English to school children and reading newspapers to an "old invalid gentleman.” Her joy in life is her visits to the park on Sunday, where she observes all that goes on around her and listens to the conversations of people nearby, as she sits “in other people's lives.” It is when she tries to leave her role as spectator and join the “players” in her…

    • 1613 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Miss Brill is more successful with adapting to change and facing reality. Instead of hiding away in the “cupboard,” she emerges to participate in life. She adapts to the world that is changing as she gets older, rather than lose her sanity or commit crimes. Although she thinks that she is an actress in a play, she has her own versions of reality. However, it doesn’t take her long to accept reality.…

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mrs Brill

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Although Miss Brill is a fully developed character, she remains static even when faced with her reality. When the young couple ridiculed, Miss Brill by referring to her as “that stupid, old, thing,” and making fun of her fur by calling it a “Fu-fur” it crushed her. Passing the bakery, she went straight into her dark little room, and quickly put the fur back into its box. Miss Brill thought she heard something cry, but it was really herself that she heard crying, because she was finally about to see that she was living in a fantasy , and the truth is her life is lonely and meaningless.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Two Kinds Amy Tan outline

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages

    c. “Soon after my mother got this idea about Shirley Temple, she took me to the beauty training school in the Mission District and put me in the hands of a student who could barely hold the scissors without shaking.”…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Miss Brill is a lonely and slightly delusional women. During the course of the story, Miss Brill seems to care about her appearance. When getting dressed she is “glad that she has decided on her fur” (183). Also, in order to look her best on her Sunday outing, she believes that a “little rogue” (184) is “absolutely necessary” (184). MIss Brill is fascinated by all the people in the park that she goes to every Sunday. Miss Brill gets excited to eavesdrop on all the conversations that are going on around her. Although Miss Brill listens to the couples who sit on the bench next to her, she never engages in any conversation. Instead she becomes more and more intrigues with the immediate atmosphere until she reaches a state of delusion.…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    While Miss Brill thinks that she is adored and a main feature to the life of the play, she is soon brought down to the thought realization that is her life. Teens that sit next to her on the park bench soon pull her heads out of her imaginary world of joy and misinterpretations of people around her. As Miss Brill eavesdrops, she hears the teens say, “Because of that stupid old thing at the end there,” (Mansfield) making her feel unimportant and isolated. When she hears the teens refer to her in such an awful manor, the delusions stop and she sees her life clearly. Miss Brill’s realization shows all that she has misinterpreted in this world and that she is in fact alone. Miss Brill soon leaves the park depressed and upset. When she gets to her…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Miss Brill Symbolism

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The point of view is based strictly on what Miss Brill sees and feels, without being biased by her rose-colored view of life. Upon arriving at the park, Miss Brill begins to take in the details of her surroundings. She seem to cling to the best qualities of her surroundings - there were far more people than last Sunday, the band sounded louder and gayer, and the conductor was wearing a new coat. As she sits in her "special seat" she is disappointed that the odd man and seated next to her. She had become "quite an expert at listening as though she didn 't listen". She views her eavesdropping as active participation in conversations surrounding her. Although she continues to watch the others in the crowd in and awe and fascination, she views the elderly people in the crowd quite differently. She calls them "odd, silent and nearly all old...and they looked as though they had just come from dark little rooms or even - even cupboards". Trying to keep her mid of the elderly people, Miss Brill convinces herself of her importance in this grand play and that "no doubt, somebody would have noticed is she hadn 't been there". When the young couple seated beside her begin to talk, Miss Brill listens intently to their conversation. It is then that she hears them talk of her the way she has been viewing the other elderly people throughout the afternoon. "Why does she come here at all - who wants her"? The omniscient point of view allows the reader to view this conversation as it actually occurred, not as Miss Brill would have no doubt changed it in her mind. When she returns home "to her room like a cupboard" without getting her usual slice of honey cake, we see that she scene at the park has affected her. Yet, she is not changed by it. When she puts away the fur, "she thinks she hears something crying". As a defense mechanism, she attributes her…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    C. She would confuse much younger family members as being her parents or a friend she had not seen since grade school.…

    • 1328 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Miss Brill Response

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages

    She visits the park every Sunday to “play her part” in the performance of life, when in reality she is an observer of other people’s lives. She feels a part of the environment, but really she is alienated from it. Miss Brill has an illusion that she is part of the community “no doubt somebody would have noticed if she hadn’t been there”, but really she is invisible to the people around her. The cruel comments by the young couple demonstrate a lack of empathy towards older people and the words shatter her fantasy of being involved in society. The text opened my eyes on how older people can be treated, and I will definitely be more considerate and…

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays