Compare and contrast how Miss. Brill and Miss. Emily avoid reality. What is the eventual outcome for each woman?
In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily avoids reality in several different ways. When her father died she was faced with reality, which was something that she did not seem prepared for. She tries to avoid this reality by claiming “her father was not dead” for three days and then “she went out very little” so people did not see her. She tried to avoid reality by distancing herself from people because it seemed as if she was scared of losing anyone else or even letting someone come into her life. Although she secluded herself from many people, she and Homer Barron fell in love. Even though they fell in love, she killed him; it seemed as if she killed him to avoid the reality of him ever leaving her or her losing him like she lost her father. The ultimate outcome for Emily was her death. It seemed as if her constant avoidance of reality led to her downfall, which made her ill. In the story, it appears as if Emily is afraid of reality and wants to avoid all the hurt or loss that accompanies reality, but her death shows that she could not truly escape reality.
In “Miss Brill,” Miss Brill also tries to avoid reality, but in a different manner than Emily. Miss Brill tried to escape reality by dressing up in her “fur” and going to the park every Sunday because she felt as if she was an important part of the events that took place. She felt as if the events in the park were “like a play” and that it was “no doubt somebody would have noticed if she hadn’t been there.” It seemed as if she attended this every Sunday event because it was her way of escaping the true reality and it made her feel more important than she probably really was. It seemed as if she was able to escape the own reality of her life by attending this event because she constantly watched and observed others and judged what she thought of their life rather than her own. However, her outcome came to her when she overheard a girl and a boy talking about her and saying things about her “fur” and “why does she come here at all.” Because of her overhearing what someone really thought of her, harsh reality finally came to her and she realized that she was not as important as she thought she was and that her fur could not truly cover up her reality. Although she tried to escape reality, it was made obvious that she could not.
Although Emily and Miss Brill both avoided reality differently, they did have some similarities. For example, they both held onto things that they thought could help them avoid reality by bringing them comfort or happiness. Emily kept Homer Barron’s body after she had killed him probably because she did not want to let go of something that once brought her happiness and comfort. Although Miss Brill did not hold onto a human, she held onto her “fur” because she believed it made her feel important and brought her happiness. Because both of the women feel so dissatisfied with their own lives, they feel as if they have to find ways to escape the reality of their dissatisfaction. Although they both seem to find a way to escape reality, reality also catches up to the both of them.
Discuss the endings for both stories. What type of ending is it? Justify your answer. Do the plot elements lead up the ending? Explain how so. Is each story literary or commercial, based on plot and ending?
“A Rose for Emily” contains a surprise ending because it contains a sudden, unexpected twist, the murder of Homer Barron. Throughout the story, the reader never suspects that Emily would have murdered Homer Barron. The story is literary because the ending relates to the story as a whole and it makes logical sense. The plot elements definitely lead up to the ending because all throughout the story Emily was trying to escape reality, and the ending shows her ultimate escape of reality, killing Homer Barron. It also leads up to the ending because Emily seems a bit suspicious throughout the story because she constantly secludes herself from others and no one knows what went on inside of her home; the ending reveals as to why she may have seemed a bit suspicious. Also, during the story it was unclear as to why Emily wanted to purchase arsenic, but the ending showed the reader why she wanted to buy the arsenic and what exactly she used it for.
I believe that “Miss Brill” contains both an intermediate ending and an unhappy ending. I believe the ending is intermediate because after she heard the boy and girl talk badly about her she goes home, without stopping at the bakery she usually stops at and put her fur away and “when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying.” The reader does not know what happens to Miss Brill after the story is over, which makes it into an intermediate ending. I also believe it could be considered an unhappy ending because Miss Brill’s seems to be emotionally hurt after she hears the boy and girl talking about her; she used to think she was so important, but now she felt extremely belittled. The story contains a literary plot because although the ending was much different than the rest of the story, it all relates to the story as a whole and makes the reader realize that Miss Brill was trying to pretend to be something she was not in order to escape reality. The plot elements do lead up to the ending because she is constantly observing others in the story, but it is when she observes people talking about her when she becomes so upset and leads to the ending of the story.
Pick one story. What are some examples of irony? What type is it? What do the ironies reveal?
“Miss Brill” contains ironies that can be seen throughout much of the story. Dramatic irony plays a huge role in this story. An example of dramatic irony from the story would be how Miss Brill sees herself as so important to the events that take place on Sunday and she believes “it was like a play” and she was “an actress.” This is an example of dramatic irony because although Miss Brill thinks she is so important, the reader knows that she is just imagining herself as this in order to escape from her own unhappiness or reality. Also it is an example of dramatic irony because the reader knows that the event that takes place every Sunday is not really a play like Miss Brill imagines it to be. She adds to the dramatic irony by wearing her “fur” to these events because she believes it makes her feel even more important, but the reader knows that this is not so. Although the story includes dramatic irony, it also includes situational irony. An example of situational irony in the story is when Miss Brill listens to the boy and girls conversation who she imagines is the “hero and heroine” of this play that she thinks everyone is in, but Miss Brill’s expectations of the boy and girl soon come to an end. The boy and girl reveal how they truly feel about Miss Brill, which is not the outcome in which she had expected. The irony used in “Miss Brill” helps to emphasize and reveal how far away from reality Miss Brill really was, but that in the end she still could not escape it.
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