Comparing Miss Brill 'And' A Clean Well-Lighted Place?

A lot of people would say that age is just a number. It's a phrase that people will disagree and agree with. The stories that I read are both examples that can easily prove that maybe that phrase isn't so true after all. "Miss Brill" starts off positively, showing an older woman spending a normal day in the park and enjoying the scenery and environment. Later in the story, it explains her reasons for going to the park routinely. While "A Clean Well-Lighted Place" doesn't start of positively, it does not start off negatively either. Two waiters are just having a normal conversation about one of their customers, a deaf old man who comes to drink every night. While one waiter criticizes the man, the other defends him. When reading both of the

stories, it is definitely made obvious that there seems to be big generational differences in society, which leads to the feelings of alienation. "Miss Brill," by Katherine Mansfield and "A Clean Well-Lighted Place," by Ernest Hemingway go into detail about two very similar peoples' lives, but in different settings. Both of the readings successfully portray that age is a contributor to the feelings of isolation that the older generation experiences because of society--which would be considered the younger generation.

Miss Brill is described as a very positive seeming woman, many instances in "Miss Brill" show that she was very optimistic and expected the best from others. When a beautiful woman had dropped her roses and a little boy picked them up to give them back to the woman, Miss Brill expected a less rude interaction between the two, but "she took them and threw them away as if they'd been poisoned" (Mansfield). Another instance was when Miss Brill had expected a lovely conversation between a couple that she saw, but the young man was extremely rude to the woman. No matter how many bad interactions she saw between people, she still expected the best from them but unfortunately didn't get much positivity in return. This definitely played a part in her feelings of being lonely, it seemed as if the world wasn't going to get any better.

"Who could believe the sky at the back wasn't painted?" (Mansfield), Miss Brill had thought this while believing that everything around her was a play. Even the littlest things, like a small dog was described as "a little brown dog trotted on solemn and then slowly trotted off, like a little "theatre" dog" (Mansfield). This had caused her to isolate herself from the real world, saying that everything was like a play was pretty much saying that everything was scripted and everyone was acting. Soon after, a couple sits a few feet away from Miss Brill. At first, it seems pretty obvious that the girl is not very comfortable doing something that the man wants her to do. The man then brings up Miss Brill, putting the blame on her and saying ""why does she come here at all--who wants her? Why doesn't she keep her silly old mug at home?" (Mansfield). The young couple seem to not be getting along very well, until Miss Brill comes up in their conversation and gives them a laugh. This situation had directly involved her, which had effected her greatly.

It was normal for Miss Brill to go to the bakery and get herself a slice of honey-cake while coming back from the park. But that day, "she passed the baker's by, climbed the stairs, went into her little dark room--her room like a cupboard--and sat down on the red eiderdown" (Mansfield). Although she knew she was different from the others, she coped with that by going to the park. The park seemed to be her safe place where people would do what they normally did. Her encounter with the rude couple made realize that her safe place wasn't at the park anymore, and people would still judge her and be rude to her there. After she put her fur into it's box, "when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying" (Mansfield). I believe that the fur was supposed to represent her. While being put into the box, realized that it was old and worn; just like Miss Brill.

"A Clean Well-Lighted Place" starts off with two waiters, one young and one old. The younger waiter is telling the older waiter about their customer--an old, deaf man that always goes to the café late at night. According to the younger waiter, ""last week he tried to commit suicide."" (Hemingway). The young waiter had been given very ignorant image, especially since he seems to think that there was no reason for the deaf man to attempt suicide since he had all the money in the world. Throughout the story, the younger waiter even says that ""he should have just killed himself last week"" (Hemingway). The young waiter represents the younger generation, constantly looking down on the older generation just because of their age. Most people would think that the older waiter is defending the man because of sympathy, but later in the story shows different.

Soon after, their shifts are finally over and the customer goes home. The older waiter hesitantly leaves, unlike the younger waiter. The younger waiter has a wife to go home to, while the older waiter has to be pushed to leave. It soon shows that the older waiter doesn't go home--but to another café, similar to the one where he had worked at. A clean, well-lighted place. It is then made obvious that the older waiter had defended the deaf man because of empathy, he understood how lonely the deaf man felt. It was inevitable, as they were both of old age. Drinking was both of the older men's way to cope, so that's what they did. "After all, he said to himself, it's probably only insomnia. Many must have it" (Hemingway). A clean, well-lighted place was both men's safe place, their escape from the sad realities of life.

Although both stories tell extremely different situations, they both show the feelings of alienation the older generation would feel.

Miss Brill felt different because the younger generation would make fun of her and laugh at what she did. The older waiter had also felt lonely and isolated because of all the negative things the younger waiter said about being old. The younger generation would represent society, as what they said and do is usually the trend. Think about it, has something that an older person done ever been considered "trendy"? Both of the character experience negative feelings, coping with things such as alcohol and maybe even suicide. Although both stories are purely fictional, this can definitely be applied to the real world. There are alcohol addictions and even attempted suicide between older people. There are uncommon habits that many people in the older generation have that would be considered "weird," such as going to the park with fur on their neck and believing that everything is a play. No matter how rich or successful people can be, loneliness is inevitable and it comes with aging. When people are young, they realize that there's a lot to live for. But once they age, they gain experience. They lose people, experience heartbreak, and even realize that they might not have long before they're in a coffin. Aging can be a sad

thing.