Tuesday, February 14, 2012
"'Miss Grief'"
One thing that I found interesting about " 'Miss Grief' " was that Miss Moncrief is depicted doing human things: eating, sleeping (as depicted in the scene on pages 181-184), etc., whereas the narrator is not so much. "I found some biscuit; she ate two, and then slowly drank the wine, while I resumed my verbal Niagra. Under its influence -- and that of the wine too, perhaps -- she began to show new life" (176). The majority of the time that the reader learns of the narrator's actions, he is reading or writing or doing something scholarly. For example, "Time passed; I was busy, amused and perhaps a little excited (sometimes psychology is exciting)" (184). This distance in actions, and thereby gender relations since he is a man and she is a woman, separates the narrator from Miss Moncrief and makes him appear godly, especially when paired with the way that she reveres him throughout the story. Even in the phrase, "my verbal Niagra," with the narrator's actions being described as being so powerful and relating to nature he is elevated to a higher level than Miss Moncrief which comes off as more than just a class division (176).
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I didn't notice this. It kind of makes her seem more dependent on him, doesn't it? He's feeding her and he's also trying to get her story published. Even at the end, he pays for her last meal.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of the class distinctions. I mean, it crossed my mind but never as in depth as you brought it up. I think you made an interesting connection with how the narrator is never doing "human like" things such as sleeping or eating. That just never occurred to me.
ReplyDeleteI really did not think about the male/ female distinctions which was being shown as you mention them. When I was reading it was obvious to separate the men and the women but however I did not think of it in the manner in which you did which is a very good observation to make because it did seem as if they were trying to portray him to be a "Godly" person.
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