"She unclasped the necklet quickly; quickly, without looking, laid it inside. But when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying" (Mansfield 87).
This quote stood out to me the most, because it was as if apart of Miss Brill died when she took off her fur coat and placed it back in the box. She had a routine every Sunday. Get dressed up and put on her fur, then she would head out to the park to people watch and listen in on other people's conversations, and in those moments she felt apart of their lives. Or as she called it, apart of the performance. As I was reading I created a back story about Miss Brill. I thought about her as a lonely old woman, maybe even a widow. Sundays were her days to feel a connection to other people, and something she really looked forward to. After overhearing the little boy and girl talk about her, her Sundays were forever ruined. She didn't stop to pick up her slice of honeycake, instead, she just went straight home and took off her fur. In the quote where she says "she thought she heard something crying" (Mansfield 87), that something rather someone, may have been Miss brill crying, because her feelings were hurt after what those children said.
James I have to say I was thinking some of those very same things as I was reading Miss Brill. I think that is very sad that we can let what people say about us affect us so much, even people we don't know. I really enjoyed reading your response.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your response as well, James. I was thinking about poor Miss Brill's cherished Sunday routine being forever ruined too. It was clear that she was lonely, and looked forward to her Sundays. It's unfortunate that other's words can have such a powerful effect on us and impact our perceptions.
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ReplyDeleteShe gives up doesn't she? She gives in to her loneliness and her sadness. This is why many people die actually, for when we stop living we begin to die.
ReplyDeleteHi, James. I really like the ending of the story because of the fact we know the "someone" is Miss Brill. I almost think that this dose of reality--that others do not perceive her as she perceives herself--is so difficult to acknowledge that she can't bear to recognize her own pain. She distances it, attributing it to someone else, because her whole world has come crashing down. I agree with Ben that she gives up. She has been constructing a lie for so long that made her life bearable that when she has to admit it's not true, she has no comfort left. Nancy
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