Rocking On The Porch In Katherine Mansfield's Miss Brill

Rocking on the Porch Told through the experiences of an elderly woman on Sunday afternoon, “Miss Brill,” a short story by Katherine Mansfield, drew me to the memory of my late great-grandmother and the residents of her assisted living home. Silenced by their isolation, often people in the advanced stages of life are driven by a desire to participate in the world around them. Miss Brill finds her place in the park in the interactions between others and the scenery around her, just as those that spent Sunday afternoons rocking back and forth on the porch of the assisted living home found their place watching the families of others come and go. The reader can immediately picture the scene unfold in “Miss Brill” from the descriptions of the …show more content…
Her name alone, Miss Brill, implies that she is single. Miss Brill also seems to experience symptoms of age. The narrator indicates the state of her health saying, “She felt a tingling in her hands and arms, but that came from walking, she supposed. And when she breathed, something light and sad- no, not sad, exactly- something gentle seemed to move in her bosom” (Mansfield 257). Miss Brill is seen by the reader as highly observant, noticing the smallest of changes in her beloved fur, such as a slightly damaged nose, as well as that the band that played in the park was in its Season, as determined based on the Conductor’s new coat and the vivacity of the music. Miss Brill’s descriptions of the park setting and her enthusiasm about the band and even the old people sharing her bench reveal her love for her afternoons in the …show more content…
Up until her ninety-fifth birthday my great-grandmother remained mostly mobile, using only a walker to get around, and was mentally very sharp. Even in good health for her age, she was burdened by seemingly inevitable symptoms of age, such as arthritis in her knees and a propensity towards incontinence that greatly hurt her pride. My family and I marveled at her remarkable health and longevity without giving sympathy to the symptoms of age that she did face. After a couple hard falls I watched her suffer through the transition into a nursing home, where she was entirely dependent on the staff and had no say in her own schedule or even when she could take a shower. Later when she was hospitalized for an infection I watched as in frustration, she did ankle exercises in her hospital bed, because she could no longer walk at all, or even roll herself over. I feel privileged to have been able to sit beside my Memaw as she declined and eventually died, and witness the pain of decline that so many relatives refuse to. Just as my great-grandmother struggled to come to terms with old age and the isolation that comes with age, the protagonist of “Miss Brill” also struggles as her bright Sunday afternoon is darkened by the younger couple. Miss Brill and her beloved fur tell the story of the every-day battles faced by many elderly and the simple