Symbolism In Miss Brill By Katherine Mansfield

In the short story “Young Goodman Brown” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the symbolism was used throughout the story. Hawthorne used symbolism to create another world of ideas concerning Goodman Brown’s faith. The symbolism in this short story shows points in Goodman Brown where he begins to make comparisons between his religious beliefs and the evil he is “witnessing.” Brown’s view on people and life becomes conflicted when he starts to realize that there is evil all around him. Nathaniel Hawthorne portrayed symbolism in this short story by giving his main character the name “Goodman Brown and naming Goodman’s wife “Faith”, the pink ribbons in her hair, the path Goodman chooses to take, the forest he goes through, the staff his companion carries and the significance of the townspeople he discovers in the forest all contribute to the symbolism that Hawthorne is delivering in this story.

Clothing is one symbol that plays a major role in the short story that reveals some truth in Delia's and Sykes' marriage. Throughout the story, clothing represents Delia's job and the hard work she does. Sykes demonstrates his disrespect and ungratefulness for the hard work his wife does when he steps "roughly upon the whitest pile of things, kicking

In the novel “How to Read Literature like a Professor” the author, Thomas Foster, analyzed and broke down many literary techniques and reoccurring themes in literature. One of the most widely used literary techniques as shown in the novel was Symbolism. Symbolism is heavily used in literature from precipitation and weather to politics, almost everything we read in literature is a form of symbolism.

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.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a book with several examples of symbolism. Although the story is seen through a child’s perspective, it includes multiple instances of symbolism, some more obvious than others. Mockingbirds, Mayella’s geraniums, and the Radley household are all big symbols in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Symbolic objects can be found in real life and in most cases in literature. Symbolism in literature it gives a story depth and a deeper meaning of the story and its characters. In Louise Eldrich’s “The Red Convertible” the car becomes a symbolic representation of the brother’s bond.

Symbolism is a technique that author’s uses to bring out the main importance of an object, but more emphasized details are being extracted in the usage of it. Alice Walker uses quilts, for example, to symbolize a “bond between women” (Spark Notes) a relationship between women, that would get passed down from generation to generation.

One example of symbolism is Brown’s wife, Faith and in the story the reader can infer that her name is represented as a religious aspect. For example when Brown decides to proceed into the forest and has his first encounter with the devil he says, “Faith kept me back a while” (Hawthorne 808). The reader can see that Goodman Brown is not just talking about his wife but his religious views which presents complications for him to enter the forest. The reader can also infer from the story that the pink ribbon is another symbol and is later found by Brown in the forest. The pink ribbon reminds him of not only his faith but his loss of innocence at this point in the story. The girly pink ribbon is represented to be innocent and child-like because of the way it is used in society, girl’s bows, presents, and toys. In the story the representation of his loss of faith is when he finds the ribbon and yells, “My faith is gone!” (Hawthorne 812). One can gather from this quote that Brown’s innocence and beliefs have been distorted when he comes across the pink ribbon an shouts his loss. This specific symbol helps the reader understand that Brown realizes that he has lost sight in his religious faith; which contributes to the theme “fall of man” because of his transgression of

Symbolism is used a great amount in the story The Scarlet Letter. “Both characters and actions are soaked in symbolism” (Wagenknecht 61). Both characters from the novel and even main settings and objects in the novel were symbolized by something in some sort of way. Examples of characters and objects from the book that used symbolism in some way were Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, the forest, Pearl and many more were in the story. Hester was one the most if not the most popular fictional, female character in American fiction. Hester Prynne, dark beautiful of form and featured, and unmistakably of genteel background, was the first great female character in American fiction” (Wagenknecht 64).

The author of 'Miss Brill', Katherine Mansfield has written several other stories that are highly valued in New Zealand literature, including 'The Doll's House'. Parallels between these stories are initially unclear as both have seemingly innocent content but when examined further, darker underlying themes become apparent. Katherine  Mansfield demonstrates the theme 'detachment of emotion in order to cope with the harsh reality of life can be dangerous if the illusion shatters' throughout the film by a range of techniques including animal imagery and narrative perspective.   Katherine Mansfield uses animal imagery to demonstrate the dangers of detachment from emotion in relation to Miss Brill through brill fish and a fur necklet. Brill are

Symbolism is the use of objects and facts to represent concepts or qualities. In writing symbolism is a literary element in other words it is an important key concept because it provides meaning to a piece of writing. The story “A Rose for Emily,” by William Faulkner uses strong symbolism. The three main symbolic aspects in these story is Emily’s house, the rose, and the gray-iron strand of hair.

This would be a fairly usual opening scene; however, Mansfield describes the fur to such detail that it could almost be a character in itself. The fur, and other garments of clothing in the story, serve as a measure or mark of class and importance. Miss Brill makes judgement of status based on what those around her are wearing. Ironically, she is devastated when the boy and girl make the same assumptions about her. The “shabby ermine” represents a once fine woman’s state of decay as her hair grays, the “beautifully dressed” boy and girl represent a state of youthfulness and wealth, and Miss Brill’s fur represents the façade she shows the world (Mansfield, 2-3).

Beauty and the Beast is a story that is loved by many. One of the many ways symbolism is shown in this story is by words and objects, like the rose. Word symbolism is very significant in this story and it shows a lot about the author. Symbolism works in this story by showing the true characters. It also

In my opinion, the fur coat represents herself. Miss Brill lives in a cupboard of a room and the fur lives in a box. She goes to the park each Sunday and this is the only moment that she takes it out to wear it. When the couple at the park deride her and her fur, she perceives it to be because of the latter, so she decides to put the fur away. Then she hears it crying. Which I think, , she actually hears herself cry because she was treated so badly by all the people.

In Miss Brill one of the central theme is isolation as Miss Brill is mentally isolated this is portrayed when she takes her fur out of the box which is symbolic of