“On her way home she usually bought a slice of honeycake…but to-day she passed the baker’s boy, climbed the stairs, went to the little dark room—her room like a cupboard—and sat down on the red eiderdown…she unclasped the necklet quickly; quickly, without looking, laid it inside. But when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying.” (Mansfield, 87)
Miss Brill seems like quite a happy person who enjoys nothing more than sitting by the band and watching the all of the people. She seems to keep to herself but obviously loves showing off her fur. This passage is important to the story because after the girl laughs at Miss Brill’s fur, Miss Brill is deeply hurt. She didn’t get a honeycake and instead went home, sulked, and put the fur- possibly her favorite possession- away simply because she was laughed at for it. Throughout the story, though Miss Brill keeps to herself, she eavesdrops and judges everyone around her. When the girl made the comment about how ridiculous her fur looked, it showed how hurtful things like that can be. Even though Miss Brill was essentially doing the same thing, I feel bad for her because at least she kept her comments to herself; because of one comment made verbally about her, she put away her favorite possession. I would question whether or not Miss Brill ever even went back to watch people; however, I’m sure it goes without questioning to rightfully assume that if she ever did return, she wouldn’t wear her fur.
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Hi Amanda! I almost quoted that very same part of the story but then I went with a quote from the other story instead. I was happy to read what you got from it, though. I also felt sorry for Miss Brill at that point; I found it very sad. She seemed to get such delight out of silently and secretly acting in that life-play, and it was ruined for her when she was acknowledged, especially in such a mean manner. I got the opposite feeling about her wearing her fur, however, expecting her to wait a while for the sting of the incident to pass before venturing out in it again. I love how differently every reader interprets every line!
ReplyDeleteI almost chose that same quote but decided on another one. I like that one also because it shows that everything we say has the potential to hurt someone's feelings. In this instance it caused her to put away, possibly forever,her most cherished possession.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that even a little verbal can really hurt someone and ruin their day. Throughout this story though, I had this thought: in the beginning she gets this fur out of a box. What if she went to this thing every Sunday and every Sunday something happened and she put it back in the box. And then by the next Sunday had pretty much forgotten or not remembered and brought it back out. I don't know, but I kept having that feeling of that. But I agree with you, and that each person has that one special thing to them, and one word can ruin that connection to that thing.
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