Essay Comparing Shamshu And Miss Brill

More often than not, we as humans have the tendency to be stubborn with what we believe. How we perceive things isn’t necessarily correct and should consider opinions and constructive criticisms from others. Whereas Shamshu and Miss. Brill are different as Shamshu from the Last Rite by Vassanji is dependent on family and friends, while Miss. Brill from the short story Miss. Brill copes with her needs by creating a false reality in which she lives in, they are also similar as they both experience emotional distress due to a forceful change that acts against their original beliefs.

In the case of Shamshu and Miss. Brill, both experience an event in which left them to question and ponder of their original convictions leaving the two in anguish.

In the case of Shamshu, he relies on the support of his wife and other character to conclude his decision of whether to bury Bharwani or have his body be cremated. Shamshu realizes that “we have to bury it or…. cremated it, as soon as possible;” as he accepted that fact that forcefully projecting his own morals and opinions onto another person is unjustifiable. Whereas Miss. Brill creates a fantasy world to enhance her public figure and escape the reality she lives as in. Some may argue that the conflict occurs after Miss Brill overhears the remarks in regards to her from a young couple, however, when “[she] was glad that she decided on her fur” and opened the box containing said fur is a more reasonable answer as to where did the conflict begin. It represents Miss. Brill unconsciously accepting the fact that her current life is unbearable, in order to fulfill this empty void in her heart is to fantasize and bend reality. While Shamshu respects the decision of his dear friend Bharwani and puts away his pride, Miss, Brill still refuses to acknowledge her status in life and instead, believes she "[hears] something