Interpretive Fiction In Miss Brill, By Katherine Mansfield And Identities

The symbolism in this novel exposes the emotionally sensitive topic of society blindfolding people from the truth; once readers understand this message, they will most likely feel a sense of betrayal and anger towards the world and society they live in. But instead they should realize that almost every, if not all, novels conceal a message through their symbolism – and with intertextuality, the messages may not vary as much as one might think. Recognizing this, all readers should preserve these significant ideas and keep them in mind when facing daily situations in the world; they should work on distinguishing traps before falling into them and identifying the people who create them. Kesey teaches his readers that society is not as pleasant or honest as it seems, and Foster illustrates that almost every story conveys the same principles. Thus, it should be safe to say that anyone who reads Kesey’s novel – or in fact any novel – can never keep their eyes and mind open enough in the world around

How does the context of the novel affect the way this value or idea is represented

It was once said, “The art of the storyteller is to hold the attention of the readers.” If a novelist is able to grab the attention of the readers, they can easily convey ideas and themes represented in the story successfully to its’ readers. For instance, Zora Neale Hurston is considered to be a brilliant writer, who has the ability to form a storytelling chain within her novels and to “render a world complete with its codes and disciplines within a few sentences” (Danticat). This is shown in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston uses various literary elements such as foreshadowing, point of view, imagery, and metaphor in order to capture the attention of the readers.

A narrator, who is without a name, tells of his first hand experiences throughout the story. This is in contrast to ‘Miss Brill’ in which narrative is delivered in the third person, with the use of free indirect speech to depict the story and portray the characters. By Wells selecting a first person narrative he draws the reader closer into the character’s mind set. This gives Wells the ability to convey the primary characters full spectrum of emotional thought, from open mindedness to the conflict and fear within him. First narrative provides the reader insight to thoughts and observations therefore adding suspense of the unknowing into the gothic style.

In the Bedford Introduction to Literature, Characterization is defined as "... the process by which a writer makes that character seem real to the reader"(2126). In order to do this a writer has multiple tools at their disposal that add to the depth of a character and simplify roles in a story. This includes the use of Protagonists and Antagonists, static and dynamic characters, showing and telling, and motivated and plausible action, as well as many others. The short story "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield is no exception to this and displays the main character of Miss Brill as the protagonist, who is confronted with the reality of her existence.

Literature is the window to realizing the negatives of society and how destructive certain norms can be. Readers are brought into a completely different story than their own, but by using similar issues in today’s world, the readers can actually learn from the story and its overall message. All writers write for a purpose, whether it’s for a new meaning to life, to live a different life than our own, or to impact others on an emotional level by teaching them to see the importance of the little things. As a reader, you search for pieces of literature that interest you whether you find the story like your own, or wish you lived the life in the story. By using issues in today’s within their works, authors are able to grab the reader's attention long enough for them to get across what they wanted to get across. Often in many works of literature, writers use societal issues as their basis for the work’s themes and symbols. By doing so, this allows the reader to question the morality behind social norms and how impactful certain ideals can be in people’s lives.

The narrative perspective helps us discover the underlying moral of the story– that is its argument about how we ought to and ought not to believe or behave (Sellnow 2017). Part of the narrative perspective is the viewer’s narrative rationality which refers to the assessment of good reasons used to persuade masses of the moral (Sellnow 2017). Another element in this perspective is its coherence defined as plausibility. Often times viewers will better agree with a moral whose story is believable and characters relatable. And the more believable and relatable the more the story resonates and that connects to its fidelity or the degree to which the values in a story ring true (Sellnow 2017). Under a narrative lens several different aspects are examined such as the actions and conditions that create the active and static events, the setting, characters that based on their depth are either round or flat. With predictable characters being flat and the unpredictable round.

The world is a massive place full of endless literature, beginning from ancient scrolls to daily news articles, filled with many secrets, perspectives and surroundings that help connect literature to an individual’s daily life. Some writers use the skills of literary elements to express and discuss an event that has happened to them or what has happened to others. This helps others to comprehend the perspectives of the author’s understanding toward an incident that one might experience. For instance in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, she uses many literary elements to express her views over most of her stories. O’Connor expresses her views in her short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by using the literary elements of point of view, irony, and setting.

Narratives have massive importance in the driving of big ideas about how we view our world. They use many different techniques, to either subtly or plainly plant ideas into our minds. The author can point out big problems in our world, and by making it relevant to the consumer, lead them to think more about what is going on around them. They can turn something that doesn’t make sense to someone and by changing something very simple, make it more relevant.

Given the certain circumstances, literature is a very strong thing in this world. It has the power to shape beliefs of the reader, such as who to love or hate, why people did certain things in the story, or even the understanding of whether someone did the right thing or not. The author has the control of what to think, and it’s like they are the puppet master in the whole operation. Not only do they have the control of the reader’s belief, they get to choose who is given power, and gets to shape people’s beliefs in the story itself. It’s not also positive sometimes either. As shown, in literature, power can be given to individuals whose use it to negativity shape people’s beliefs.

The main character, Edie, provides the narration of the story from a first person point of view. She tells her story based on an event from her past. Because she narrates the story the reader is unable to be sure if what she tells of the other characters is completely accurate. Because one does not hear other character's thoughts one could question whether Edie

Most stories are not just stories written to entertain the reader. Intentional or not, writers are often commentating on the world around them. Social commentary is interwoven in the fabric of novels, and it is often up to the reader to determine what they take away from any given work. Although written for entertainment’s sake, stories usually include the social or political views of the author and serve as a platform for their views to be made known.

This quote shows again that Miss Brill takes joy in being an observer of her surroundings. This suggests that she may be trying to distract herself from her own loneliness because she tries to stay included and feel like she is a necessary person who is an integral part of others’ daily lives. This contributes to the meaning that society has a lack of care for these type of people because no one in the surroundings really care

Katherine Mansfield's "Miss Brill" is a woman self-contained, not pessimistic but settled, content. She is not a victim of her circumstances, but the satisfied creator of them. You could say she has her ducks lined up the way she wants them. Through the character of Miss Brill, Katherine Mansfield reveals a woman who has the ability to enjoy a simple world of her own elaborate creation.

Katherine Mansfield was born October 14, 1888 in Wellington New Zealand. Mansfield was a well-known and respected prominent writer in the 20th century. She attended Queens College in London with her sisters. Mansfield broke barriers for female writers in the early 20th century and even still today. Her stories commonly focus on the theme of reality /world versus human nature while also touching the themes of the darker and more complex sides of life.