People crave social acceptance and contact with others of a similar nature, but not everyone possesses the necessary qualities needed to carry out everyday social interactions. The story, “Miss Brill,” displays this central idea and characterizes Miss Brill as a prime example of a misfit in society through her delusional thoughts and actions over the course of this short story. At first Miss Brill may seem like a goofy, awkward teacher, but as the story progresses, the reader notices that something about Miss Brill seems a little off. While she may seem to enjoy her eccentric lifestyle, the reader comes to realize by the end of the story that deep down Miss Brill feels very lonely. In order to compensate for her lack of human interaction,
…show more content…
The fur coat symbolizes Miss Brill's life. It is recovered from its little, dull living arrangement and exposed to the outside world, just to be come back to its desolate box at the story's close. Miss Brill describes the hide as a traveler of sorts; however, her own life is unmoving and forlorn.
Miss Brill identifies a certain feeling within her that she describes as “light and sad—no, not sad, exactly—something gentle” (85). This is the all too familiar feeling of loneliness, yet Miss Brill refuses to acknowledge her true feelings or even worse, does not know the truth about her own inner emotions. Later in the story, Miss Brill notices that a tune the musicians are playing contains a certain element of sadness. Immediately she changes her mind and says that the tune sounds like, “something that made you want to sing” (87). These two emotions, happiness and sadness, are such polar opposites and the change is so sudden that it leads the reader to the idea that Miss Brill is deluding herself. She is aware of her loneliness, but the thought scares her too much to confront it. Instead, she would rather replace the sad thoughts with false, yet joyous ones even if it costs her internally. She bottles up her emotions, and has no one to confide in because of her inability to socialize with other
The fur coat symbolizes Miss Brill's life. It is recovered from its little, dull living arrangement and exposed to the outside world, just to be come back to its desolate box at the story's close. Miss Brill describes the hide as a traveler of sorts; however, her own life is unmoving and forlorn.
Miss Brill identifies a certain feeling within her that she describes as “light and sad—no, not sad, exactly—something gentle” (85). This is the all too familiar feeling of loneliness, yet Miss Brill refuses to acknowledge her true feelings or even worse, does not know the truth about her own inner emotions. Later in the story, Miss Brill notices that a tune the musicians are playing contains a certain element of sadness. Immediately she changes her mind and says that the tune sounds like, “something that made you want to sing” (87). These two emotions, happiness and sadness, are such polar opposites and the change is so sudden that it leads the reader to the idea that Miss Brill is deluding herself. She is aware of her loneliness, but the thought scares her too much to confront it. Instead, she would rather replace the sad thoughts with false, yet joyous ones even if it costs her internally. She bottles up her emotions, and has no one to confide in because of her inability to socialize with other