Miss Brill: Overview
Mansfield did a really good Job at using theme through characterization. She first used Miss Broil’s attitude and appearance. Miss. Brills was a very classy old lady, “Miss Brills was glad that she had decided on her fur. ” Back in the period that Miss Brills lived, it was very elegant to wear a type of fur around your neck, this usually symbolized wealth. The theme here would be acceptance, this connects to the world because there is always that one piece of clothing everyone wants or wears as a status symbol.
The author also uses characterization through action or incident when Miss Brills is in her own world acting as if she is part off play when two young people pull her back to reality. ” It’s her if-our which is so funny, “giggled the girl. “It’s exactly like a fried whiting. ” This shocks Miss Brills because she has never experienced insult before, she’s always controlling what she wants to see and hear. When the young couple makes fun of her fur she realizes that she doesn’t live in a fantasy and she has a hard time handling that. The theme here is reality.
All of us have that escape, we can think of something and our whole attitude changes like Miss Brills, and maybe hat’s what some of us need an escape from the harsh world that is reality. The author portrayed Miss Brills as a very detailed emotional character from the beginning. The section that most symbolized that emotion was “on her way home she usually bought a slice of honey- cake at the baker’s. It was her Sunday treat; sometimes there was an almond in in her slice, sometimes not. It made a great difference. “If there was an almond it was like carrying home a little tiny present. ” This one simple thing impacted her whole entire day.
That single almond determined either or not she was going to have a good day or a bad day. It’s really sad that all Miss Brills had to look forward to what may be the possibility an almond in her honey- cake. This relates to society because there are a lot of people who are introverts, and rely on a tiny piece of glory like Miss Brills does. Human society is so obsessed with what we have going on that we don’t branch out and interact with other people, which makes it hard for people like Miss Brills to fit in or feel important. Tibias Wolff used characterization through Hunters in the snow really well, with Tub, Frank and
Kenny. Tibias used the theme reflection for Tub as well as physical characterization, “You ought to see yourself,” the driver said. “He looks Just like a beach ball with a hat on, doesn’t he? Doesn’t he, Frank? ” People Judge people everyday because of their weight, what clothes they wear, what backpack they have and whom they hang out with, our society is based on prejudices, seen in the real world as well as the book. Jenny’s characterization would definitely be through his dialogue because he was just like every bully in the world, “Okay,” Kenny said. “l wont say a word.
Like I won’t say anything about a certain babysitter. ” He’s using the theme of power he thinks he has with something someone willingly trusted him with and using it against him, people do this when they want something or they are Just rude. As for Frank his characterization and theme was shown through his emotion, “l mean _really_ in love. ” He squeezed Tub’s wrist. “With your whole being. ” Frank was a very emotional person, you saw it through the way he treated Tub, and he was torn because if he didn’t act like Kenny, Kenny would have mistreated his deepest secret.
Frank also had relations with a babysitter, which he thought he loved; this may have Just been a cover up, for his unwillingness to want to grow older. She possibly made him feel alive again. This happens in real life too people get to a certain age where they want to feel young again, so they make modifications to their body and their life style. These authors did a really amazing Job at using characterization through their stories I really felt like I understood the characters and what they were going through and how it related to my life or the world around me.
