by Shane Russo
Critical analysis of literary works can provide insight into the mind of the author. Such insights allow the reader to delve deeper into the implications these written words offers about the social struggles that the author faced at the time of their writing. The Veldt, by Ray Bradbury, speaks to a struggle of man versus machine. Miss Brill, by Katherine Mansfield, exposes the discrimination of elderly and socially outcast people. The social struggles offered by the two stories can be uncovered through analyzing the literary elements of theme, symbolism, and imagery. This article is the first in a series of three and will focus on symbolism. If you would like to read the stories discussed, please visit the links in the references section at the end.
The Veldt
The Veldt was published in 1951 in an anthology of science-fiction stories called The Illustrated Man. It tells the story of a futuristic family. The parents, George and Lydia Hadley, have purchased an upgrade to their home they refer to as the nursery. Like every other aspect of the house, the nursery offers a convenience. In this case, it occupies of the two children, Wendy and Peter, so that the parents do not have to.
The nursery would have been a technological marvel in 1951. The room could render the thoughts of the people inside with stunning realism. By touching every sense, the room made what was inside the mind real and, in this way, it was used as device to monitor the psychological wellness of the children.
The parents become worried about this well-being due to the fact that the children have been spending an increasing amount of time in an African setting where lions can be seen feeding and screams can be heard. The children are obstinate and will no longer follow instructions given by their parents and it is feared that the new technology it somehow to blame.
Worried that technology is taking over their lives, the parents decide to shut down the nursery. The children go bonkers and are inconsolable until the parents decide to allow them one final visit to the room. During this visit Wendy and Peter lure their parents into the nursery. Inside, George and Lydia find themselves locked in with the hungry lions where they are promptly eaten.
The parents of this story find their lives being taken over by technology. Everything they do is done for them by something in the house, whether is it tying their shoes or making their meals. The Hadleys do nothing for themselves. At the time Bradbury wrote this story, the television was just beginning to become a household item. The introduction of this technology sparked a fear that technology itself would cease to make humans necessary.
It was in this spirit that the story was written and the struggle is paralleled by its characters. The parents find themselves being completely obsolete to their children. The house baths them, feeds them, and even spends quality time with them. The only functions the parents serve is to keep the power on.
Interestingly enough, the parents’ presence is required to make their presence unnecessary. This brings to light another social issue and that is of raising children. The children are completely unaffected by the demands of their parents. They are rude and will not be told what to do. They even go so far as to threaten the father when he indicates that he might shut down the nursery. What the story is stating here is that the rise of technology will have a significant negative impact on the family structure.
Miss Brill
The second story, Miss Brill, is one of a lonely, old teacher, though she rebukes both of these notions until the very end. She sits on a park bench listening to a band on a Sunday afternoon. She views the people and events that unfold around her as a play in which everyone has a role, including herself.
Everyone wore a costume, she being adorn with a dusty, old fur. She likes to talk but the people sharing her bench are two quiet, old people. It is clear that she does not identify herself as old by the way she describes them. She sits watching the crowd taking notice of the children playing and mentally commenting on the elderly appearance of all that sat on the other benches.
She even notices an interaction between a woman and a man in which the woman is blown off. Instead of being angry, the woman pretends that it does not affect her. The old couple sharing her bench leaves and the old man is almost knocked over by a group of young girls.
After a while, Miss Brill acknowledges to herself that everything she sees is like that of a play. Finally, a young couple joins her on the bench and she sees them as the major players in her theatrical scene. The young man insults Miss Brill by calling her old and making fun of her fur. Usually Miss Brill stops for a slice of cake but today she just goes home. She puts her fur away and the story ends with on a sad note with something inside of her crying.
Miss Brill is set against a society that diminishes the role of elderly people, and as such she herself does not identify with them in spite of the fact that she is an old lady. Her own judgment of old people is one of distaste. She views them as boring and funny looking. She is viewed in entirely the same way by the young people that she encounters near the end of the story.
Her way of dealing with this is by viewing the world in a theatrical context. No one is authentically mean, that is just their part to play. The old people on the benches play their part too and are just odd because that is their lot. It is not until Miss Brill actually identifies herself as being one of the old people on the bench that we actually see the harmful effect that being cast aside has on her. This revelation, and interruption to her fantasy, disrupts her entire routine.
Miss Brill is set in a world much like our own, a world in which oddities are singled out and made to feel even more outside of the group.
Symbolism
Symbolism, as a literary element, is “when objects or actions mean more than themselves” (Jordan-Henley, 1988). The Veldt is rife with symbolism. Some examples are the house being symbolic of technology taking over the world and the story as a whole being symbolic of time in which it was created.
The most glaring example of symbolism is the lions created in the nursery. The lions are symbolic of the Wendy and Peter, the two children. The lions are seen eating something off in the distance every time they are present. Also, when the parents are in the room, the lions take notice and clearly wish to advance on the couple.
The lions are predatory animals and are kings of their domain. The children show these traits as well as is evident when Peter threatens his father:
“’Will you shut off the house sometime soon?’
‘We’re considering it.’
‘I don’t think you’d better consider it any more, Father’” (Bradbury, 1951).
People do not threaten other they do not wish to exert control over. This desire of the children to be rid of their parents is manifested in the presence of the lions.
The house, itself, is a symbol of fear of technology running amuck and growing beyond human control. The Veldt was written when television were first coming into their own. Some people, including Bradbury, had an underlying fear that technology was becoming too advanced and that one day it would make humans useless. The house is an example of this. This view of technology is present in the following quote:
“’That’s just it. I feel like I don’t belong here. The house is wife and mother now, and nursemaid. Can I compete with an African veldt? Can I give a bath and scrub the children as efficiently or quickly as the automatic scrub bath can? I cannot. And it isn’t just me. It’s you. You’ve been awfully nervous lately.’
‘I suppose I have been smoking too much.’
‘You look as if you didn’t know what to do with yourself in this house, either. You smoke a little more every morning and drink a little more every afternoon and need a little more sedative every night. You’re beginning to feel unnecessary too’” (Bradbury, 1951).
The world, like the characters in the story, was afraid of technology while at the same time finding itself more, and more, dependent on it. The conflicting views of the parents and their children parallel the conflict that society was facing in 1951: how does one use technology without being used by it in return?
In Miss Brill, the fur worn by the title character is symbolic of Miss Brill herself. When the fur is described to the reader, it is shown as being old and worn. It is also stored away in a box where it collects moth dust. This is symbolic of the way Miss Brill views the old people sitting on the bench with her.
Firstly the description of the fur: “She had taken it out of its box that afternoon, shaken out the moth powder, given it a good brush, and rubbed the life back into the dim little eyes” (Mansfield, 1922).
Next the description of the people on the bench:
“Other people sat on the benches and green chairs, but they were nearly always the same, Sunday after Sunday, and–Miss Brill had often noticed–there was something funny about nearly all of them. They were odd, silent, nearly all old, and from the way they stared they looked as though they’d just come from dark little rooms or even–even cupboards!” (Mansfield, 1922).
The box for the fur is the same as the dark little rooms of the old people. We know that Miss Brill is one of these old people, though she does not identify with them yet. Therefore, the fur being symbolic of the old people, it is also symbolic of Miss Brill herself. Her discriminatory view of the old people is a microcosm of the view the young people have on her. She does not realize that she is one of them until the end of the story.
The two stories use symbolism to reveal the position of the characters within the world. In The Veldt, symbolism is used to reveal that the children are out of control and have ill desires for their parents. The parents are useless and are prey to the wants of the house and the children. Similarly, in Miss Brill, the symbolism is used to reveal Miss Brills place in the world. The fur is symbolic of Miss Brill in that they are both old, dusty relics that the world looks down upon.
References
Bradbury, R. (1951). The veldt – ray bradbury. Retrieved from http://www.veddma.com/veddma/Veldt.htm
Bradbury, R. (2006, October 11). In his words. Retrieved from http://www.raybradbury.com/inhiswords.html
Jones, K. (2009). Katherine mansfield: a brief biography – introduction. Retrieved from http://www.katherinemansfield.net/life/briefbio1.html
Jordan-Henley, J. (1988). The elements of literature. Retrieved from http://www.roanestate.edu/owl/ElementsLit.html
Mansfield, K. (1922). Miss brill. Retrieved from http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/mansfield/garden/brill.html
Wikipedia. (2011, March 22). Imagery (literature). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagery_(literature)