Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill” Essay

Katherine Mansfields short story Miss brill is an majuscule example of how a writer kindle use various literary techniques to lead the reader to a better thought of Miss brill the character. Instead of merely stating the message of the story, Mansfield utilize various literary techniques to tout ensembleow the reader to draw his ingest conclusions about the character. Using these literary aspects to separate a rightfulness about a character to the reader is often referred to as characterization. Four of the most easily recognized literary techniques use in Mansfields Miss Brill are her use of symbolism, setting, allusion, and points of face used by different characters in her story.Symbolism plays a very large part in understanding Miss Brill the character. This can easily be seen by the akinnessship between Miss Brill and her alter-ego, the hide. A symbol is a person, object or make upt that suggests more than its literal meaning. In separate words, it is something th at has two levels of meaning on the literal level it is what it is, for example, Miss Brills fur is however a fur. It can also represent a more hidden meaning such as the fur beingness a symbol for Miss Brill herself. Miss Brill lives for the days that she spends in the park, this can be seen when she rubs the life back into her furs dim little eyes. This quote reveal that the trips to the park help to rub life back into Miss Brill.The condition of the furs eyes also allude that Miss Brill is not as full of life as he once tycoon subscribe been, but as long as she can see the beauty and worth hush up in her fur, she can retain her sense of worth. Mansfield uses the bond between Miss Brill and the fur the taper how deeply she needs to belong. For example, throughout the story when Miss Brill is happy the fur is also happy, and when the fur is insulted accordingly Miss Brill is also insulted. Perhaps the best example of this bond is when Miss Brill is sitting in her cupboard-l ike room and puts her fur by, and thinks that she hears something crying. Rather than facing the sorrow and disappointment of the day, she attributes her sadness to the fur.The setting of Miss Brill is an important feature of the story because Miss Brill defines herself in relation to the setting. As she walks about the park, she feels more and more in tune with her setting, as she notices thatall of the tribe at the park, including herself, are actors in a weekly play. Her sense of herself in relation to the setting changes drastically, of course, when she overhears the preteen duplicate ridiculing her. As the story opens, she is upbeat and happy watching the other people in the park. after(prenominal) the young couple mock her, we see the sadness as she walks slowly back to her apartment, her cupboard.Mansfield also uses allusion to pay back the theme of the story. We first see Miss Brills allusions to a cupboard as she describes the other patriarchal people in the park. S he seems to sympathize with them because they are not a part of this rarified play like she is. After being confronted by the young couple, Miss Brill realizes that she also lives in a room like a cupboard. This allusion Mansfield gives to Miss Brills room is valuable because of two reasons. She first used the condition cupboard to describe the homes of the funny old people in the park every Sunday.It does not occur to Miss Brill that she is also one of these funny old people , however, Mansfield tells the audience that she is then one of these funny old people when she describes Miss Brills room to the reader. The used of the term cupboard is also important because it demonstrates the effect setting can have on the readers opinion to the characters accepted nature. The quote referring to Miss Brills cupboard room, also gives the reader a look at the point of enchant that Miss Brill has. When Miss Brill is happy her room is not so bad, however, when she is depressed then her po int of view is that she is like those funny old people that she notices in the park every Sunday.In Miss Brill, the limited omniscient point of view allows the reader to see that Miss Brill dust unchanged when the story ends. 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 elaborate of her surroundings. She seem to cling to the best qualities of her surroundings there were far more people than last Sunday, the circle sounded louder and gayer, and the conductor was wearing a new coat. As she sits in her special seat she is disappointed that the fantastic man and sit down next to her. She had become quite an expert at listening as though she didnt listen. She views her eavesdropping as active participation inconversations surrounding her. Although she continues to watch the others in the company in and awe and fascination, she views the elder ly people in the crowd quite differently.She calls them odd, silent and nearly all oldand 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 hadnt 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 uncouth 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 aw ay the fur, she thinks she hears something crying. As a defense mechanism, she attributes her grief and pain to the fur, making it possible to carry on in her fantasy world.Mansfields Miss Brill is an excellent example of how a reader can gain an understanding of a character through characterization. The reader is allowed to understand and interpret the story utilizing their own methods. Mansfield uses the literary methods of symbolism, setting, and points of view to enable the reader to understand the story and this get the greater meaning.BibliographyA oblivious Story Katherine Mansfields Miss Brill. http//www.op.org/domcentral/study/ashley/arts/arts404.htmMansfield, Katherine. Miss Brill. Literature An Introduction to Fiction, rhyme and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York 1999. 33-37.Symbolism. http//www.kysu.edu/artsscience/LLP/211/symbolsm.htm