The theme of change is commonly addressed in all forms of American literature, likely because it is a subject that is universally relatable. The way that people react to and respond to changes in their lives and environments reveals a great deal about their personalities, temperaments, and moral code. This theme is explored in, “A Rose for Emily,” “Ms. Brill,” and the film, “Auntie Mame,” and will be examined in this essay to illustrate the differences with which each character reacts to change.
In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily’s transformation from a young and lively girl into an eccentric and isolated old woman is the movement in the story. She changes from a socially active girl with a series of boyfriends and gentlemen callers into a lonely and pitiful old woman who actually becomes insane. The beginning of this transformation becomes evident when asked Emily refuses to allow the body of her father to be removed from the house, despite the fact that he has been the person who has stood in the way of her being able to begin a life with one of her admirers. Emily changes into a deranged person who ultimately opts to hold onto Homer by poisoning him, so strong is her desire to hold onto him and not be abandoned. Emily was desperate to prevent the men in her life from leaving, regardless of the way that she was forced to accomplish this, i.e. by poisoning Homer. It was only after Emily died that the townspeople discovered her grotesque secret: “The body had apparently once laid in the attitude of an embrace, but now within the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers even the grimace of love, had cuckolded him” (Faulkner.) In the case of our father, Emily did not have any control over when he died in what happened to his body; as a result, she made sure that Homer would not be able to leave her in those circumstances, and that she would be able to completely control his whereabouts.
In “Miss Brill,” the main character experiences a significant change in her very pleasurable routine of going to the park and observing and listening to all of the other people who are spending time there. She views it as entertainment, and is fascinated by all of the activity that she witnesses, all of which is missing from her own apparently uneventful and isolated existence: she thinks “Oh, how fascinating it was! How she enjoyed it! How she loved sitting here, watching it all! It was like a plate. It was exactly like a play” (Mansfield.)
She shares her bench with a variety of people, and looks forward to having conversation with them, again something which is missing from her own life. The change that occurs in Miss Brill’s life and virtually ruins are positive experience of people-watching is when the two young lovers sit on the bench with her, and she overhears them talking about her in extremely derogatory, mocking, and disrespectful words. They refer to her as a “silly old thing” and suggest that it would be better if she simply stayed at home.
The incident creates a significant transformation in Miss Brill’s ability to enjoy the environment which had once brought her so much pleasure. As a result of overhearing the meanness of the couple, she becomes withdrawn and simply leaves, no longer being able to derive pleasure in going to the park. Her Sunday routine has been destroyed, and when she goes home, she even skips one of the most delightful parts of the whole experience: going to the bakery to purchase a slice of almond cake. For Miss Brill, there has been a revelation that she is one of the people in the play that she has been observing, but instead of being someone who is an agreeable figure to watch, she has been portrayed as a pathetic and ugly old woman. Her experience in the park that day has changed things forever for her.
In the film Auntie Mame, the issue of change and transformation pervades her character because all throughout the film, Mame constantly finds ways to reinvent herself. At various times, she uses her energy to change herself into an Indian princess, a Japanese doll, a southern belle, and a variety of other characters. Besides taking on the persona of these characters, she succeeds in physically transforming herself into them, complete with props and clothing that round out the portrayal. One of the most vivid aspects of Mame’s ability to change involves her response to losing her investments in the stock market crash that happened in 1929. In response, she ends up finding various jobs, such as a telephone operator, an actress, and a salesgirl at a department store, all of which require her to assume different roles, much the way she transforms herself throughout the film as mentioned previously. These various identities are the symbols of Mame’s ability to survive, and her willingness to do whatever is necessary to prevail. Her life philosophy, “life is a banquet–and some poor suckers are starving to death” symbolizes her drive seek out and find all that life has to offer, even when it throws obstacles her way. Perhaps the biggest change she experiences in the film is adapting to the sudden arrival of her nephew, child, and her willingness and enthusiasm about integrating him into her life, which is rather unorthodox, especially for a child. She tries to expose him to aspects of life to which he has previously been unaware, and to people with whom he is completely unfamiliar in terms of their lifestyles and flamboyance. In one memorable scene, which reinforces Mame’s worries that Patrick is turning into a conventional, boring young man, he brings his fiancée to meet her. The young woman, Gloria, arrives at a gathering of Mame and her friends, and reveals herself to be extremely shallow, telling a story about how she rolled over a golf ball, and destroyed it, and she clearly thought that it was the most entertaining contribution she could make to that gathering when in fact, the reaction of the others in the room is that she is somewhat of an ninny.
The three characters discussed, Emily, Miss Brill, and Mame, are all women who have found themselves in positions where they adapted to circumstances beyond their control, and all in different ways. Emily became rather eccentric, bordering on mad, when confronted with abandonment by the men in her life, Miss Brill became extremely distraught and depressed when she was exposed to people discussing her negatively, and Mame proved herself to be highly adaptable and creative in response to changing situations.
