English Composition - Essay Example

She returns home, feeling as though she had finished play her role and must pass it on to someone else. What this shows is that by listening in to others, she is able to grasp a little in regards to herself. The point of view is third person, which means the viewing is limited. We are unable to understand how everyone else is acting in the park. The main character is Miss Brill, who appears to be a lonely woman who is fascinated by the world around her. She spends a lot of her time people-watching and inconspicuously blending in with others.

The other two characters that had a significance were the young couple; all that could be gathered about them is their dislike for how very few young people were at the park. The other characters consisted of the rest of the park-goers, minding their own business and doing their own thing. The short story takes place in a cheery, bright park on a slightly chilly autumn afternoon. The conflict, however, contradicts the setting. When Miss Brill first comes, she sits and ponders the amount of old people on that particular day.

She separates herself from the rest of them, finding them to just be other interesting specimens in her people-watching. After the arrival of the young couple, though, they make her feel as old as she made the other park patrons out to be. She feels the urge to cry, but insists that it is something else. This does not last long, and she eventually gives in to the fact that she must have missed something this morning, something that had been there for a while but never took the time to notice.

The dark, depressing conflict contrasted oddly with a beautiful Sunday in the park. The tone of the story was that of false hope. Miss Brill felt sad throughout the story, but kept calling it hope, or the need to sing. "And when she breathed, something light and sad - no, not sad, exactly - something gentle