Miss Brill

People watching is fun. Perhaps I'm just creepy, but sometimes it's nice to just sit there and watch other people go about their business, imagining their lives. Okay, I never really actually do that, but it soooounds like it would be fun.

Miss Brill is an English teacher. BUT WAIT! She's an English teacher in France. So naturally, she probably feels out of place, as though she doesn't belong. Now, she probably can speak French, as she says she likes listening to what the people are saying. However, she still probably feels cut off, not by the language barrier, but by the cultural one. Everyone around her is French, and she is definitely English. However, she goes to this park and watches the people, eventually arriving at the conclusion that she is a part of some great play. She is included. She states that she is an important part of the production, and that people would surely notice if she was absent. This makes her feel connected to the other people. Before, she was alone, just a lonely English lady sitting in a French park. And so when she finally gets this connection, she is just simply delighted. But then that makes it sting oh so much more when the boy and girl appear and talk about poor Miss Brill. They just straight rip on her, saying that she is unwanted and questioning why she is even at the park if she's all alone. So she immediately goes from a feeling of connection and importance to one of complete and utter rejection and unappreciation. Naturally, it kills her inside, and she locks up her adorable little mink.

This is a mink.