Alienation Unit 1

     Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield is quite an interesting story.  There is a theme of loneliness in this story that is very saddening.  Miss Brill is so lonely that she talks to her fur like it is her friend.  The reader can also understand how alone she is when she has to live through the lives of others.  Miss Brill spent time watching others so much that she "noticed--there was something funny about nearly all of them" (183).  She spends all of her Sundays people watching at the park because she does not have anything else to do.  I think that it is hard for her to accept the reality of her loneliness, and when it is brought to her attention by the young couple that she is crazy, she breaks down.  I feel as if that is a reality check for Miss Brill, but I am not entirely sure if she understands what is going on with herself. Feeling alienated can cause people to have to live vicariously through others.  Miss Brill is to that point where to feel alive she has to watch these people every Sunday. It is something that she is missing in her everyday life.