miss brill

The temperment and nature of Miss Brill, the main character and protagonist, is very immature, judgemental, and delusional. Throughout the entire story, we see through the eyes of Miss Brill a very twisted perception on reality. She makes up and imagines almost every aspect of her life. When she sees people interacting, she creates situations and dialogue for them. She determines what to imagine strictly through her original visual perceptions of these people, and jumps to very many conclusions. In this way, she makes up for her lifes own lack of luster and lives vicariously through others. She also views life as a play, in which everyone acts out their own small part, and in which she is a superstar. This once again shows her egotistical and judgemental way of looking at things. Miss Brill misses two chances for an epiphany in the story. The first time is when she sees an old lady in a worn out and ancient ermine toque getting disregarded by those around her, even when she attempts interaction. Miss Brill fails to see the parallels in her life and in the woman in the ermine toques life. The second time she misses her epiphany is when, while eavesdropping, she hears a young couple talking negatively about her. Instead of realizing her faults and the negative role she takes, she childishly goes off and cries, an unusual reaction from any weathered adult. The protagonist, Miss Brill, leads a sad existence and her participation in the story greattly reflects this.