�Miss Brill�
~ Katherine Mansfield

Plato believed that the ultimate goal is to find truth

� Mirror image of ourselves because of others� perceptions � it is a reflection
� Miss Brill is pathological � her idea of true self and the reality are not connected

�Brill� � Australian fish that has no commercial value

� We end up knowing more about her character than she does
� She dresses up in her finest clothes
  o Payoff:
     - gets to feel as a part of something
     - wants to escape the bleakness and isolation in her real life

�GENTILITY�
� class, social grace, social understanding, presence admired by others, etc.

Even at her best she is still SHABBY

The disconnection is built on pretence .

� She inserts herself into their world => the more she feels human
� She seeks control
� Eavesdrops on a conversation of a young couple
� She has been good at staying removed, moves on if something comes too close to her, avoiding pain

� At the end, her idea of self dissolves
� Her reality is that she is left in her desperate isolation

� Cake => celebration
  o Her hands would tremble as she put away the fur for the last time, tries to hold it together for the last time
� Trying to live life vicariously

Theme: Exile
Every human being needs to belong
� Miss Brill has an aching need to belong
� She cannot get involved because she doesn�t want to get hurt
� Her greatest fear is to get exiled
***We create what we fear***

� Participation is key to belonging
  o Had a hard time keeping the fabric together in a hostile world
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