Miss Brill vs ‘The Man’
A first impression is said to be one of the most important moments in a relationship, yet it is most often based on little knowledge of who the person truly is. Likewise, premature judgement is made in both “Identities” by W. D. Valgardson, and “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield. Miss Brill is faced with prejudice as she is alone in the “Jardins Publiques” whereas the protagonist from identities is shot to death because of his ‘false identity.’ One's self-perception differs from reality and often one only learns this reality through the collective perceptions of the world with which we interact. Unfortunately, these collective perceptions can be guided by stereotypes or judgement.
Motivation is a large difference between Miss Brill and the man from Identities. The man’s motivation came out of boredom of his regular old life. For this reason, he did not shave in the morning. The assumption that the policeman makes is based on the stereotype that wealthy men are clean shaven: “trained to see an unshaven man in blue jeans …show more content…
Miss Brill is completely unaware of how she is viewed as she goes out to the park. This changes however when the teenagers on the bench next to her make it obvious as to how they and the rest of society see her. This change is symbolized through the fur that she wears to the park. At the beginning, she took great care of the fur, yet at the end she “quickly without looking, laid it inside.” The contrast in the care she gives the fur is the contrast in self-love between the beginning and the end. The man on the other hand, is completely oblivious to how the world sees him. He is not given the chance to come to that realization as the policeman acts on his judgement of the man. The polices’ judgement represents how the whole of society judges people. Without giving him a chance to show who he truly is, the man is shut down by
A first impression is said to be one of the most important moments in a relationship, yet it is most often based on little knowledge of who the person truly is. Likewise, premature judgement is made in both “Identities” by W. D. Valgardson, and “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield. Miss Brill is faced with prejudice as she is alone in the “Jardins Publiques” whereas the protagonist from identities is shot to death because of his ‘false identity.’ One's self-perception differs from reality and often one only learns this reality through the collective perceptions of the world with which we interact. Unfortunately, these collective perceptions can be guided by stereotypes or judgement.
Motivation is a large difference between Miss Brill and the man from Identities. The man’s motivation came out of boredom of his regular old life. For this reason, he did not shave in the morning. The assumption that the policeman makes is based on the stereotype that wealthy men are clean shaven: “trained to see an unshaven man in blue jeans …show more content…
Miss Brill is completely unaware of how she is viewed as she goes out to the park. This changes however when the teenagers on the bench next to her make it obvious as to how they and the rest of society see her. This change is symbolized through the fur that she wears to the park. At the beginning, she took great care of the fur, yet at the end she “quickly without looking, laid it inside.” The contrast in the care she gives the fur is the contrast in self-love between the beginning and the end. The man on the other hand, is completely oblivious to how the world sees him. He is not given the chance to come to that realization as the policeman acts on his judgement of the man. The polices’ judgement represents how the whole of society judges people. Without giving him a chance to show who he truly is, the man is shut down by