Leader--Loring
Analyst--Anne Catherine
Recorder--Caroline
Question 1: (Anne Catherine)
In the story, Miss Brill appears to be a lonely and deprived person. She watches the people of her town, most likely replacing the loss of family or friends in her own life, yet she seems happy and content about it. Why do you think Miss Brill was alright with her current life situation and place in society that we can infer from reading the story? Do you think author Katherine Mansfield experienced this feeling of loneliness and not belonging anywhere in her own life but was fine with that?
In my opinion, Miss Brill didn't even realize that the way she was living her life was different than anybody else's, therefore she was fine with it. She probably used to have people in her life, but may be happy now that they're gone. Katherine Mansfield may not have acted completely like her character Miss Brill, but I think at some points in her life she felt loneliness and the feeling that no one in her life mattered, and she was on her own.
Question 2: (Loring)
“On her way home she usually bought a slice of honeycake at the baker’s. It was her Sunday treat…But to-day she passed the baker’s by”.What do you think was going through Miss Brill’s head when observing her surroundings, and how did that impact her decision of passing by the bakery and changing other daily activities?
After watching people over and over, she realizes that she isn’t their center focus and she isn’t as important as she thought she was. People don’t watch her like she watches them. It was kind of like a reality check that finally set in and caused her to change her ways.
Question 3: (Caroline)
What do you think Katherine Mansfield is trying to convey when she implies that Miss. Brill thinks she is very important; however, she is not?
Answer: In my opinion, I believe Katherine Mansfield is implying that many people live in the world today making their lives the way they want them to be in their mind but really do not realize what other people think and feel towards them. In the story, Miss. Brill expresses the fact that every day when the old couple sits next to her on the bench, she is wishing that they would hold a conversation with her symbolizing that she wants a new life.
Literary Elements
- Fragments are used to give the reader the idea that the entire narration and story is happening inside Miss Brill's mind
- Many similes are used in the story to better the reader's understanding of Miss Brill's physical surroundings. (the blue sky powdered with gold and great spots of light like white wine splashed over the Jardins Publiques/ but when you opened your mouth there was just a faint chill, like a chill from a glass of iced water before you sip/He scraped with his foot and flapped his arms like a rooster about to crow/its small high-stepping mother, like a young hen, rushed scolding to its rescue/How she loved sitting here, watching it all! It was like a play. It was exactly like a play)
