Truth In Katherine Mansfield's Miss Brill

The truth is more important than idealism when accepting self. From knowing the truth one’s confidence is shattered and their idealistic façade is broken. In the short story “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield, the author demonstrates that if a need is not met to a certain extent of the individual, then the individual will conjure up a false reality which occurs from the individual’s wants and needs. The sad denial of the truth leads down to a path of delusion and essentially corrupting their original sense of self. This is seen through the protagonist, Miss Brill, who believes in the power of youth. Youth and feeling young is all she admires, and when comforted with the truth, her façade is broken and everything she believed was untrue. Ultimately,

This story can be related to one thinking their good at something but actually they’re not. From personal experiences, sport is a category where an individual believes he/she is good at it but in reality, this is not true. Badminton, for example, one can think he/ she is good at it until they play against someone who is better than them. Their superficial façade is shattered from knowing the truth and also their confidence. As though they might have believed that they were the best, but when facing reality, this façade is completely hidden and the individual has to face. This example can be seen back to the story how Miss Brill was calling out on couples passing by and being jealous the way women look/ dresses. She illustrates females in a negative manner and males in a more positive manner. When finally a couple approaches they call Miss Brill a “stupid old thing” this phrase destroyed Miss Brill’s confidence and made her realize the harsh truth of reality. Agreeing with Mansfield’s point of truth is more important than idealism when accepting self. Is seen through the character of Miss Brill, when knowing the bitter truth about how people view her as. She sits on her bed in a gloomy state in her small cupboard-like apartment and claims to hear something crying. That something is, in fact, Miss Brill herself who is heartbroken and can no longer tell the difference between reality and her personal illusion of life. She is lost, stuck in between reality and imagination and not able to accept that it is herself who is crying. By her imagination, this shattered her self-image and everything she believed