Compare and contrast 2 stories - Essay Example

Miss Brill and Good Country People expose their characters in a descriptive manner, for the former, the introduction was done by describing the setting, talking about the atmosphere while the latter described one of the main characters, Mrs. Freeman, then going to the other characters. The internal conflict in Miss Brill was shown more pronouncedly in the main character while external conflicts were exhibited by secondary characters. For instance, the thoughts of Miss Brill is revealed which exposes her feelings about another character in the story when she was listening to an old man and woman who have been talking about her glasses, showing how enraged she had been about the woman’s complaints probably reflecting herself, with the statement “ Miss Brill had wanted to shake her”.

The other story involved most of the characters in showing the internal and external conflicts, with the passionate characterizations and portrayal of their roles in the story. Mrs. Freeman struggled with her family and their problems laid before her, affecting both her mental, emotional as well as physical beings. Mrs. Hopewell on the other hand faced emotional struggles with her own daughter and Mrs. Freeman while Hulga had her own internal conflicts as the effects of her external conflict that is, her disability.

Both stories show a narrator of which both are omniscient, knowing the feelings and thoughts of all the characters. However, Miss Brill is more of a limited omniscient narrator who sees through the mind of the main character in contrast to Good Country People which exposes not only the thoughts and feelings of the main character but of other characters as well. This manner of telling the story brings the reader to picture all the characters in a more detailed fashion which helps to understand the events of the story more clearly.

Complications in Miss Brill are shown with the introduction of other characters as viewed in the eyes of the main character as she sits to observe or to the author’s words, ‘watch the play on the stage’. The other story on the contrary becomes complicated with the introduction of the antagonist, the Bible salesman who then takes interest in Hulga. Both stories have not exposed any foreshadowing or clue to how the story would end but plainly presented the events as they happened especially with the story of Miss Brill.

Good Country People on the other hand ingeniously saved the conclusion of the story by leaving the exposition of the true character of the antagonist towards the end of the story. Both also have an open plot wherein the conflicts were not resolved at the end of the story but were left for the reader to finish or think of what might be the conclusion of the story. Such method is said to be clever, leaving the reader thinking about the story and not forgetting it in a moment. Miss Brill is about reflections, dreams and lust with the first one shown through the character of Miss Brill who usually spends her Sunday afternoons watching the people at Jardins Publiques, listening to the conversations of those who usually sit at her ‘special seat’ where she observes couples, usually lovers taking their seats there.

The reason for her going there was not mentioned in the story but her ‘special seat’ represents her dreams of having a partner, and her sexual desires. Good Country Peop