The Effects Of Dementia In Katherine Mansfield's Miss Brill

Thousand of elderly people are affected by one of the most devastating mental disorders on the planet: dementia. Dementia is a general term that describes numerous physical and mental problems ranging from a decrease in coordination to personality changes. The effects of dementia can be seen in Katherine Mansfield’s short story, “Miss Brill.” Miss Brill is an elderly woman who follows a Sunday tradition of going to the park. However, while Miss Brill is at the park, she purposefully stares at and obsesses over the people in the park. Through the characterization of Miss Brill, the details of her Sunday ritual, and the conflict she faces with social interaction, it is clear that Miss Brill suffers from dementia. The characterization of Miss

The narrator first points out that she enjoys petting her fur coat like it is a living animal by saying, “It was nice to feel it again. She…rubbed the life back into the dim little eyes,” (Mansfield 219). This is not the only time that Miss Brill personifies her fur coat, however. At the end of the story, Miss Brill, after putting the fur coat back in its box, “thought she heard something crying,” (221). This profound display of confusion is one clue that Miss Brill suffers from dementia (“Memory Loss”). Miss Brill also displays poor judgment by sitting in the park and watching strangers. Miss Brill “loved sitting here, watching it all,” (220). Another trait of Miss Brill is a tendency to overreact. An example of this is when the teenagers on the bench insult her. After they insult her and her fur coat, she decides she is too upset to stop at her favorite bakery and instead goes straight home. She then puts away the fur coat and imagines that is crying. These unfortunate sets of attributes are clear indications that Miss Brill suffers from dementia. However, Mansfield does not stop there; she thoroughly describes the details of Miss Brill’s Sunday tradition, giving another indication that Miss Brill is mentally