Comparison of Main Character's Isolation in Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" and Katherine Mansfield's "Miss Brill"

<Tab/>In Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" and Katherine Mansfield's "Miss Brill", the protagonists experience different yet similar degrees of isolation. In "Girl", the isolation is subtle while in "Miss Brill" the isolated status of the character is extremely obvious. Both types of isolation involve the character's social life/role and stem from those around them; Miss Brill becomes isolated and excluded from surrounding strangers in the park, while a young girl's mother …

…to the character in "Girl", Miss Brill's case is on a much larger scale. She faces isolation from seemingly every angle, from those younger, older, and her peers. In Kincaid's story, a girl, who is at a very different time in her life than Miss Brill, faces isolation from her mother and the things she is forced to recognize. Works Cited Meyers, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Sixth Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003.