Point of View: "Miss Brill" story

In the short story “Miss Brill,” the stream of conscious narration creates an insight into the mind of the main character as her thoughts begin to cross the line from sanity to insanity. Katherine Mansfield uses details, isolation, and corruption of the mind to show the overall meaning of the story itself. Each of these creates a deeper understanding of what the author is actually trying to say about the society that we live in today.

Mansfield’s attention to small details creates a picture in any readers’ mind. There is never a moment where confusion may take place. Each sentence is thoroughly thought out before it is added to the story. Opening up the story, Katherine Mansfield immediately introduces a sentence or two that shows exactly where Miss Brill is and what it looks like. Mansfield writes,
Although it was so brilliantly fine—the blue sky powdered with gold and great spots of light like white wine splashed over the Jardins Publiques—Miss Brill was glad that she had decided on her fur. The air was motionless, but when you opened your mouth there was just a feint chill, like a chill from a glass of iced water before you sip, and now and again a leaf came drifting—from nowhere, from the sky. (Mansfield, 33)
Right away, the reader can see that Miss Brill is a higher class woman, or at least she believes that she is. This is created through the imagery of a woman sitting in a beautiful area with a fur coat over her body. Mansfield makes her writing very personal as if she is actually there, in the mind of her character. She uses phrases like “Never mind” to connect to the reader on a more personal level. This opening paragraph brings across the idea that Miss Brill may believe that she is too good for everyone else around her. It does not state that she is sitting with anyone else. This creates the idea of isolation from all others.

Miss Brill seems to separate herself from everyone else around her. Everyone in the park is said to have come in pairs, but not Miss Brill. She sits alone as if that fur coat was her partner. Mansfield gets the point across that her main character bases everyone on their clothes and feels like she is the only high class person around. Ironically, Miss Brill is the one being rejected. Towards the end of the story, Mansfield says that a young couple is sitting in the park talking about Miss Brill. They say,
‘But why? Because of that stupid old thing at the end there?’ asked the boy. ‘Why does she come here at all—who wants her? Why doesn’t she keep her silly old mug at home?’ ‘It’s her fu—fur which is so funny,’ giggles the girl. ‘It’s exactly like a fried whiting.’ (36)
Miss Brill was actually the outcast. Although she was telling herself that she was the only one who was decent in her society, she was rejected by the people due to how she dressed and acted. The meaning behind this is to show that society will reject people based on looks, and that many people are extremely judgmental to others around them. The stream of conscious narration helps to explain the fact that she realizes that she is the outcast and she no longer believes that she is better than everyone else. Her mind is now shifting from one way of thinking to another.

Katherine Mansfield creates a not so stable mind for Miss Brill. Right in the beginning of the story, Miss Brill takes out her fur coat and begins to talk to it. This is how Mansfield sets the mood for the rest of the story. It is as if the fur is her only friend and it is the thing that she talks to. Within her mind are things that a normal person would not think. The thing is, her old age must be taken into account. Often with aging, peoples’ minds begin to wander in places that other minds do not. At the end of the story when Miss Brill puts her fur away, she believes that she hears it crying. This is how Mansfield shows that her character as, in fact, crossed the line between sanity and insanity. It was stated earlier in the story that this Sunday was like no other. This was the day that Miss Brill would put the fur away for good. She realized that she was the outcast and that the fur was one of the reasons. Miss Brill started to feel as if her identity was dying along with the fur. Mansfield creates option with her writing. Some readers may feel as if it were the fur that was crying, while others may take it as Miss Brill crying herself. Although there is option, it is hinted that the fur is crying as it is going inside the box. Miss Brill is seen as a character that is really not completely there in her own mind. This creates a way that Mansfield can show some people that those who believe that they are truly happy can sometimes be the unhappiest after all.

Katherine Mansfield uses her own technique to show that her main character, Miss Brill, is actually not stable in her mind. She is shown to be insane throughout the story. She is isolated and corrupted, and the use of detail also adds to it. The story talks about the idea of rejection in a society, and the use of detail also adds to it. The story talks about the idea of rejection in a society, and how it is taken sometimes. It just goes to show that sometimes the people who think as highly of themselves as Miss Brill, can crack under the influence of people rejecting them. One person’s opinion can lead to another’s downfall. That was the life of Miss Brill, and she clearly wasn’t accepted from her environment as much as she had wished. Katherine Mansfield creates a new meaning to the definition of the word insanity.