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Character analysis of miss brill in the short story "miss brill" by katherine mansfield
A worn path by eudora welty main idea
The character of Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield
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In Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill” she illustrates a sanctimonious older female whom at the conclusion of the story understands the true definition of the ancient saying, “treat people the way you would like to be treated”. Correspondingly, in Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” she exhibits the true meaning of “love” and how it along with courage can help you conquer any obstacle or dilemma you may encounter. With this in mind, the protagonists in each story allocate modest similarities, there are likewise compelling differences to be contemplated. Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill” protagonist, Miss Brill, portrayed as an educated, older Caucasian female in France, seems to the reader to be alone, deranged, and miserable with an extensive …show more content…
The conversation seems as though it confirms her biggest fear. She was possibly rich at one point in her life, although she cannot quite come to grasps with not having money. The reader assumes she is poor because she lives in “a dark room-like a cupboard”, meaning she lives, possibly in a either a boarding room or a modest one bedroom apartment. However, she has a condescension with reference to herself. Miss Brill is not only narcissistic, but also has a great deal of vulgarity to herself, although in reality she was a social outcast. On the other hand, Jackson is an uneducated wise woman, who is very family oriented, stubborn, selfless, manipulative, religious woman. Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” takes place in a racist time era where, persons of Caucasian decent were considered to be superior to the African American race. Jackson uses this theory to her ability, and an example of this is her leaving the house with no money and by the conclusion of the story has ten cents, which in that time period was enough to buy her grandson a toy for
In the stories “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, you see two different ways that women are seen and the different times that they are living in. For example in one story we have a college student who comes back home for the first time and has a different outlook on life now. In the other story we have an older lady who is willing to endure whatever to make sure that her loved one is taken care of. Even though these two stories are very different in the way the roles of women are seen, they show how women roles in society are seen from the past and present and how something have changed but are still the same.
Every Sunday, Miss Brill looked forward to a wonderful day in the park. There, she would secretly dive into the lives of the surrounding human beings, taking in each of their words and actions and creating a fantasy world all of her own that she was sure she belonged in, but she was mistaken. Her fantasy world does crumble, and Miss Brill, the protagonist in the short story, “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield, soon finds herself in reality. Miss Brill can be clearly seen as a flat, yet dynamic character, as can be portrayed through her thought transformation.
That’s why folks don’t never go out there” (Faulkner 53). Joanna carries the burden, echoed by her last name, of her forefathers’ beliefs and is unable to escape the shadow of the racial injustices visited upon black people. Her father tells her the curse is “yours, even though you are a child. The curse of every white child that ever was born and that ever will be born. None can escape it” (252-253). It is her duty to contribute toward the advancement of black people. The curse is the black man’s shadow; she says to Joe Christmas, her lover, “I thought of all the children coming forever and ever into the world, white, with the black shadow already falling upon them before they drew breath” (Faulkner 253). This evokes the idea that she, and all other white people, cannot escape the wrongs of their ancestors. The shadow will follow her and haunt her constantly reminding her of her heritage of racial radicalism and she can truly never escape it, but it is not just the shadow of black people, she is also haunted by the murder of her half-brother and grandfather. It is not just her, it permeates that very
Brent confronts her reader one on one in order to reemphasize her point. She uses the family and sentiment to appeal to and challenge the 19th century white women reader in order to effectively gain their support in the movement for abolition. Understanding what was going on in our nation, in the southern states, and in the northern states is incredibly important when reading this story. Slaves were nothing more than property and, in many cases, were treated with less respect than the family dog.
Eudora Welty establishes “The Worn Path” in the midst of the twentieth century – in an era where African Americans were not considered as equal to white Americans. Welty tells the story of Phoenix Jackson, an elderly African-American woman, who makes a lengthy voyage into town to get medication for her chronically ill grandson. For most people the journey from the countryside to a town in a city, would not be very difficult. However, the fact that old infirm Phoenix is faced with hindrances and some racist attitudes of people she encounters along the journey; she endeavors onward despite frequent hindrances in her path that include her own deteriorating health and the grandchild’s slim chance of subsistence.
Word Press editor. “An Analysis of Eudora Welty’s ‘A Worn Path’”. Word press. N.P., April 12,2013. Web. 17 Mar 2014.
“A Worn Path” is a short story written by Eudora Welty. It is based on an elderly African-American grandmother named Phoenix Jackson, who goes for a walk to the town of Natchez on a cold December morning to get some medicine for her ailing grandson. This story speaks of the obstacles Phoenix endured along the way and how she overcame them. The theme, central idea or message that the author wishes to convey to his or her readers, in “A Worn Path” is one of determination. Phoenix Jackson is determined to get to Natchez, in order to get medicine for her grandson; she does not let any obstacles get in her way. The theme of determination is shown in many ways throughout this short story.
Eudora Welty's 'A Worn Path' is a story that emphasizes the natural symbolism of the surroundings. As the story begins, we are introduced to our main character, Phoenix Jackson; she is described as a small, old Negro woman. I believe that the name Eudora Welty gives our main character is very symbolic. The legend of the Phoenix is about a fabled sacred bird of ancient Egyptians. The bird is said to come out of Arabia every 500 years to Heliopolis, where it burned itself on the altar and rose again from its ashes, young and beautiful. Phoenix, the women in the story, represents the myth of the bird because she is described as being elderly and near the end of her life. Phoenix can hardly walk and uses a cane made of an old umbrella to aid her. Her skin is described as old and wrinkly, but yet with a golden color running beneath it 'Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead, but a golden color ran underneath?(55). Her skin tone represents the golden feathers of the Phoenix and her grandson represents the next Phoenix that will be given life when she dies. The trip to the city to get the medicine represents the mythological trip that the Phoenix takes to the sun to die. Most likely this journey along a worn path through the woods, will be one of her last.
Mansfield, Katherine. "Miss Brill." Introduction to Literature: Reading, Analyzing, and Writing. 2nd ed. Ed. Dorothy U. Seyler and Richard A. Wilan. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1990. 440-43.
“As she drove the familiar route to the school, she considered her magnificent new age. Forty… Such a colorless age… Nothing would matter all that much when you were forty. You wouldn 't have real feelings when you were forty, because you 'd be safely cushioned by your frumpy forty-ness,” Liane Moriarty in her novel Big Little Lies remarks on the colorless way it feels to be forty no doubt based upon other’s opinions of the age. Though people cannot stop the natural process of aging the woman still feels less valuable than she would have at a younger age. Forty is in no way a terribly old age, but she still feels “frumpy” and “colorless.” In “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill is a middle to
In the story A Worn Path, Eudora Welty shows an old woman living in a time period where racial prejudice is rampant and out of control. Phoenix Jackson is a grandmother whose only motivation for living is to nurture her grandson back to health. The strength of love may make people do or say unusual and implausible things. The central idea of this story is that love can empower someone to over come many life-threatening obstacles. The idea is shown when an old woman conquers all odds against her to show her everlasting love for her grandson. Throughout the story Phoenix Jackson has to overcome many types of obstacles that hinder her in her devotion to help her grandson.
How does one compare the life of women to men in late nineteenth century to mid-twentieth century America? In this time the rights of women were progressing in the United States and there were two important authors, Kate Chopin and John Steinbeck. These authors may have shown the readers a glimpse of the inner sentiments of women in that time. They both wrote a fictitious story about women’s restraints by a masculine driven society that may have some realism to what women’s inequities may have been. The trials of the protagonists in both narratives are distinctive in many ways, only similar when it totals the macho goaded culture of that time. Even so, In Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing we hold two unlike fictional characters in two very different short stories similar to Elisa Allen in the “Chrysanthemums” and Mrs. Louise Mallard in “The Story of an Hour”, that have unusual struggles that came from the same sort of antagonist.
As a female university student, I feel deeply related to Marjorie since her personality is quietly similar to mine. Analogously, I could feel Bernice’s “vague pain” (Fitzgerald, 3) and realize her sensitivity as the things have happened to me when I was younger. In order to comprehend author’s main idea, I did numerous researches about the jazz age. Thus it can be seen, reader’s background is also crucial when responding to this literary texts. The writer’s main target audiences are women, who have different desires and needs than men. The meaning of the text often competes when we have a better understanding of our self-identities. We interpret the text based on our own psyches, experiences, and judgments. Literature, are like music, without interaction with its audiences, no profound meaning would be
Welty, Eudora. “A Worn Path.” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 4th Compact Ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008, pp. 95-100.
When first reading this short story the character of an older woman comes to mind only to find later in an important passage “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength (Clugston, 2010, sec 2.1). This passage finally gives the reader a detailing idea of the woman in this story and defines her as a younger woman rather than an older one. This may l...