Miss Brill
Loneliness is a painful feeling that no one in this world can bear. Some try to overcome that feeling, others try to find ways to escape from it. There are, for instance, many ways to escape from loneliness, such as escaping it by running away, trying to fit in a big crowd or by the popular method of suicide. In the short story Miss Brill, by Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill tries to escape her loneliness by integrating herself into other people's lives. Her fantasy of being part of a big crowd, her attention towards the physical appearance of others and the symbolic meaning of the fur clearly indicates her attempt to escape loneliness through integrating herself into other people's lives. Miss Brill fantasizing of being part of a big crowd is definitely the key element to help her integrate into other's lives.Living other's lives is a way for Miss Brill to escape loneliness, and her fantasy of being part of a big crowd clearly shows this. Every Sunday, Miss Brill goes to the Garden. She watches, listens to everything that goes on around her at the Garden. "Just at that moment a boy and girl came and sat down where the old couple had been. [...] And still soundlessly singing, still with that trembling smile, Miss Brill pr
Miss Brill pays a lot of attention to how others looked and dressed. During the entire time at the garden, she describes everyone's physical appearance. She focuses on how they look instead of who they are. For example, "a fine old man in a velvet coat," "a big woman, sitting upright, with a roll of knitting on her embroidered apron," "an Englishman and his wife, he wearing a dreadful Panama hat and she button boots," "little boys with big white silk bows," "little girls, little French dolls, dressed up in velvet and lace," and many others. She is integrating into other's lives by looking at their physical appearance. She pays so much attention, she can even tell who got a new coat at the Garden, "Wasn't the conductor wearing a new coat, too?". It is amazing to see how much attention she put on other's physical appearance. Looking at how others looked is a way for her to escape loneliness. It keeps her mind busy thinking about their physical appearance, and consequently, loneliness will not flow in her mind. Keeping her mind busy at others' lives as well as how they looked is an approach for her to escape loneliness, yet the symbolism of the fur also shows her attempt to escape loneliness. The fur that Miss Brill has symbolizes her. When the fur comes out of the box every Sunday, it is like Miss Brill coming out to the Garden every Sunday. When it came out of the box, Miss Brill "rubbed the life back into the dim little eyes," the fur comes to life when it comes out of the box, just like Miss Brill comes to life when she goes to the Garden. Since the fur represents Miss Brill herself, it reflects her thoughts and feelings as well. At the beginning of the story, when "the sad little eyes" ask, "What has been happening
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Approximate Word count = 1175
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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