The portrayal of Loneliness in Miss Brill’s Literature
Introduction
The short story of Miss Brill bears a pervasive sense that she is a lonely woman. Her alienation appears to be vivid in some parts of the story due to how she carries herself and her straightforward routine, which seems to lack excitement. The other bit of loneliness is not so apparent since it stems from her society’s point of view. Her name, for instance, implies dullness; she is a dull spinster. This story, written in the 1920s, derived its point of view that Miss Brill was lonely from the cultural norms at the time (Kirszner & Mandell, 2016).
The author explains that the character, Brill, was unmarried- a spinster, at a time when feminism and talks about the free choice on how to live one’s life was not the norm. As a spinster, it got automatically assumed that she was lonely since she never got a chance to experience and share a love life with someone. That is why she would go to a park on Sundays, and assume an observation role by her usual spot at a bench (Kirszner & Mandell, 2016). As the author depicts, she craved company and even admired the youth, especially young couples, as she wished for their kind of love. She is also taken aback by the young lady who seemed to disregard her relationship, something she was missing. Her supposed failure at love and even forming new relationships seem to be a result of a lack of experience.
Miss Brill attempts to escape her loneliness and the harsh reality that she will grow old alone by delving into other’s lives through observation. Her actions alienate her. Although she takes pride in her observation skills and ability to notice changes in people’s attitudes, the others do not see her as extroverted as she thinks she is. The fact that she makes deliberate efforts to eavesdrop on the conversations of other characters gives the impression that she is either bored, idle, or does not have an exciting life; hence she looks for that by poking her nose in other people’s business. The excitement she seeks in others’ life eventually hurts her as she realizes just how alienated she is by her community (Kirszner & Mandell, 2016).
Brill’s loneliness gets backed by the missing engagement in dialogue with other people, an essential part of human interaction. She goes to the park to listen to the band and interact but fails to achieve that. She dresses somehow extravagantly but does not seem to get the attention she probably seeks, let alone being able to hold down a conversation. She craves to converse with an older man sitting beside her at the park, but he barely pays her an ounce of attention. While this is ironic, because she is a tutor of kids, it shows the disconnect in her mind and the reality in the world as she gets seen. She gets portrayed as a judgemental woman who is bitter and jealous of other peoples’ happiness when she judges another woman’s hat and distasteful taste but is hurt when judged (WANG Xiao-yan, 2014). Deep down, she craves to interact fully and be part of the society but is silently aware that she does not fit in perfectly.
The fur she takes with her everywhere seems to have sentimental value (Kirszner & Mandell, 2016). Symbolically, people assumed that the fur serves to fill the void of loneliness brought about by a lack of friendships or love in her life. She even converses with it as if it is alive. When she heard the boy and girl at the park mocking her fur and talking about her as though she is unworthy, she is hurt and feels rejected. Like many older people, Miss Brill likes to be in the company of the young. She avoided the older adults probably because they remind her of the reality that she tries to escape as she associates more with the young. Young people are vibrant and full of life, which helps the old forget their problems. It explains why she got hurt by the young couple who mock her. The negativity surrounding her as a spinster eventually causes her to realize how ‘not normal’ she is in other people’s eyes.
The character of Miss Brill is crucial as it points to situations that older people face and go through in their daily lives. She may not live confined to an elderly home but the fact that she views herself as one who comes from a tiny cupboard, which she retreats to points to the actual feeling of isolation that she fights each day. She lacks intimate relationships but attempts to juxtaposition herself in situations which she will easily blend in even though her efforts are futile. The short story’s nature would make it easy to judge the character and draw negative conclusions about her harshly. The insight gained on her thoughts as well as the world she lived in, which was not so warm to her, makes it is easy to understand why she struggled to free herself of that ‘lonely’ tag. She was facing a constant battle of solitude and self- pity (WANG Xiao-yan, 2014).
References
Kirszner, L. G., & Mandell, S. R. (2016). Portable literature + Mindtap literature, 1-term access card: Reading, reacting, writing – 2016 MLA updates (9th ed.). Cenveo Publisher Services.
WANG Xiao-yan. (2014). On the alienation in Miss Brill. Journal of Literature and Art Studies, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.17265/2159-5836/2014.01.001