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Mental Illness In Miss Brill

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In Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill”, the protagonist isn’t just a woman who is a bit antisocial, but is actually a high functioning autistic person. The three main symptoms of this form of autism are; “social-interaction difficulties, communication challenges, and a tendency to engage in repetitive behaviors”. Throughout the story Miss Brill exhibits each of these symptoms multiple times, and when she is presented with a chance to communicate with anyone. She is swayed by her disorder, and her actions are chosen for her. The first sign that Miss Brill is suffering from a disorder is when she is sitting around the park on the bench, and isn’t communicating with anyone. She doesn’t attempt to even follow the rules of etiquette by simply greeting, or saying goodbye to the elderly couple. She is just observing the world around her, but is unable to summon up the nerve to actually begin a conversation with anyone around her. At one point the narrator …show more content…

Miss Brill is ruled by routine, and eventually convinces herself that if she were to ever break this routine, then people will diffidently notice her absence. A second moment of where her OCD is displayed is by her sitting in the same “special” spot every Sunday. Now, it can be said that she just prefers this spot over any other place, but during the moment where she is being insulted; she didn’t move to a new area to continue enjoying the play happening around her. By choosing to stay there, and not even consider moving to a new area just proves that she is fixated on that exact spot, to the point of obsession. If she had been devastated, to the point of breaking her delusions of being an actor in a play, then she wouldn’t have been able to stay for the remainder of the performance. It is that uncontrollable need to do a certain task, a certain way that allowed her to remain seated until it was time to

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The character of Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger 's novel, Catcher in the Rye, is an excellent example of a psychologically sensitive portrayal of a child with autism spectrum disorder. Although, Holden is never diagnosed in the novel, his interactions with peers and his particular interests show that he is a young man struggling with this psychological disorder. I find this most interesting because the novel allows the reader to enter the mind of Holden to connect and sympathize with the young man and gain a new perspective to his unique disorder. Similarly, the scientific article written by, Jiri Koutek, discusses the social isolation of a sixteen year old male with high functioning autism who was hospitalized for a suicide attempt. The

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The issues of mental illness have been around from the start of human existence. Mental illness is considered any psychiatric disorder that cause untypical behavior. Questioning happened more in the 1930’s when more problems came around and how to fix it began to arise. Mental illness included the diseases, the cures, One of the illnesses that was very common was Schizophrenia. This is a” long-term mental disease that affects how your brain works.

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In the last few years, the representation of people suffering from mental illness in popular culture has greatly increased, showing actual teenagers that characters and idols have real problems in everyday life. One of the literary leaders in this psychological revolution is the novel, and recent film, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Throughout this story, the viewer learns about different types of mental disorders from depression, to post-traumatic stress disorder, to schizophrenia. The events that occur throughout this storyline show real-life situations and struggles that teenagers go through. Stephen Chbosky expertly handles the topic of mental illness in the novel and film, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

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She judges other people to make herself feel more superior and normal and to hide her true character. Later on as Miss Brill observes a young couple, “the hero and heroine, of course, just arrived from his father’s yacht” (p.188), she comes to the realization of who she truthfully is. This wholly destroys Miss Brill, causing her to change her typical plans and go home in grief, “But to-day she passed the baker’s by, climbed the stairs, went into the little dark room-her room like a cupboard… she unclasped the necklet quickly; quickly, without looking, laid it inside. But when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying” (Mansfield 189). Terry White sums up the story of “Miss Brill” by writing, “Like the insidious illness that seems to be creeping to life inside her, Miss Brill is abruptly forced to confront the reality that her imagination seeks to escape”(White)

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The story “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892 shows mental illness through the narrator first hand. The theme in this story is going insane verses loneliness as well as being trapped. These themes are shown through the main character (the narrator of the story) as she works through her own mind, life, and surroundings. First, the theme of the woman’s state of mind is the main focus in this story.

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