Miss Brill Vs. Phoenix

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Trong Bui English 101B Professor Mitchell 09/29/2011 Topic Three: The protagonists in “A Worn Path” and “ Miss Brill” are older women. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast the personality characteristics or traits of the two women. Having read the two short stories "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield and “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, it is interesting for one to realize that the two protagonists Miss Brill and Phoenix Jackson from each story are different but yet similar in some ways. Miss Brill is a vulnerable old English woman while Phoenix Jackson is a brave old African-American woman. By comparison technique, these two characters would be best comprehended through their worlds, their meaning of lives, and their characteristics. Despite the difference in races, Miss Brill and Phoenix Jackson both are the victims of discrimination in their worlds. Miss Brill is a lonely English woman in a small French town. She has a habit of going to Jardins Publiques every Sunday. She loves the music, the conversations there. Instead of attempting to be active in one, Miss Brill likes the idea of eavesdropping and judging people to herself. However, she is shocked to realize that she, herself is a topic of others. The young couples who are described to be in love, point at her and name her "that stupid old thing" (Mansfield, 140). Moreover, the girl has criticized Miss Brill´s fashion; she thinks the fur looks like a dead fish. Put aside her race, Miss Brill has been awfully discriminated by the youngsters; they make fun of her age and laugh at her odd fashion style. Not quite like Miss Brill´s discrimination case, Phoenix Jackson is more pity. She is not only being discriminated for being old but is also a victim of racism. On the journey of getting medicine for her grandson, Old Phoenix has encountered numerous
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