Miss Brill Theme Analysis

The theme plays a huge role in the stories “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield and “A Clean, Well- Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway. The theme vastly shapes the story,the epiphany sets up the theme, and strikes a question in the mind of the reader. These author0s do a great job of creating deeper theme, which you have to think deeply about. They are both really well constructed and show good theme implementation. The themes of both these stories are very similar, because they both portray humans’ propensity to seek an escape from reality but these escape is only temporary. In the “Miss Brill” story, it portrays her as someone that isn’t necessarily a symbol of contempt. Going to the park served as somewhat of her escape from the cruel nature of …show more content…
In the “Miss Brill” story, the hostile comments she encounters when she talks to the boy and girl, quickly bring her back to reality. Her fantasy world where she feels completely comfortable, is suddenly hijacked by the cruel nature of society. It is like a slap in the face that the only place that she can find refuge in, has also been compromised by truth. In the “A Clean, well lighted place” story, the epiphany of the story is when the younger waiter somewhat kicks the old man out by refusing to give him another drink and saying they have to close. This shows that even in places that serve as our sanctuary, it is only temporary before we are brought back to earth. The younger waiter’s belligerent and insensitive comment about the old man, shows that in life most people wont necessarily show you sympathy. This shows that due to humans deceitful and selfish nature, it is difficult to find our safe haven in humans. This is where the concept of the powerful nature of love comes in. The loss off his wife reveals the absence of one of the few people that would actually genuinely care. Despite the older waiter actually caring, the younger waiter stands for the majority of