What are some MAJOR differences between the narrative approach in "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the approach found in "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield? What do the main characters discover and learn about themselves?

Hawthorne's story begins with dialogue between Goodman Brown and his wife, Faith. Faith does not want him to go into the forest because she feels somewhat afraid, but Brown insists that he must. He also chides her for doubting him when they have only been married for three months. Brown's character begins to be revealed by this interaction: he is a man who leaves his apprehensive wife behind in order to do some "work" that he knows is shameful and immoral. From their interaction, we learn that he deceives his wife and then plans to "cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven." His faith, then, is not terribly strong. The character of Mansfield's Miss Brill, on the other hand, begins to be revealed not by dialogue, but by the revelation of details concerning her feelings regarding her fox fur. She notes its damage and imagines that the fox feels sad, and she thinks of it as a "little rogue"—somehow playful, vivacious, and attractive despite its wobbly nose and "dim little eyes." We can also note that she is a bit eccentric, though she thinks of herself as quite a proper lady despite her musty fur.
Further, the opening imagery, another of Mansfield's narrative choices, helps to establish Miss Brill's character and mood. The "blue sky [is] powdered with gold and great spots of light like white wine splashed over the Jardins Publiques." It almost sounds like a stage set, which connects to Miss Brill's fantasy of being an actress playing a role. Based on the descriptions of the setting and of Miss Brill's fur, we can surmise that she does live in something like a dream. She imagines things to be more beautiful than they actually are. Hawthorne provides imagery much later, saying that Brown "had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind. It was all as lonely as could be." The imagery that begins "Miss Brill" allows us to participate in the titular character's fantasy. However, the imagery provided later on in "Young Goodman Brown" establishes the mood in a much darker way and seems to begin to set up the forest as a symbol of temptation. It feels threatening and dangerous, unlike Miss Brill's lovelier imagery.
Mansfield eventually establishes the tattered and ridiculous fox fur as a symbol of Miss Brill herself, but Hawthorne writes a sort of allegory using Brown. Miss Brill does not realize until the end that she is as outdated and irrelevant as her fur. It is only once the young couple speaks about her so rudely within earshot that she understands her real place in the world, and even then, it is unclear whether or not she truly internalizes this realization. For example, she seems to think the crying she hears is coming from the boxed fur. She does not realize that she is crying. Goodman Brown, however, has a rather generic, common name, as though he could stand in for a sort of Christian "everyman" character. His struggles with temptation are universal. Further, his wife's name, Faith, represents Christian faith, and when Brown abandons his wife at home, choosing temptation in the forest instead, he briefly abandons his faith in God. When Brown chooses temptation over Faith, he turns his back on God. The story seems like a warning to readers to avoid this kind of thinking, as Brown's view of the world and his peers never recovers from his experiences in the forest; he has lost all faith in God, humanity, and perhaps even himself. "Miss Brill" does not contain the same kind of moralistic message.
Brown's realization has more to do with other people than himself. When he returns from the forest, or his dream of it, he sees everyone around him as a "blasphemer," including his own wife. He does not seem to realize his own role in the "gloom" that envelopes the rest of his life. Miss Brill's semi-realized epiphany has more to do with herself than anyone else. She seems to develop some understanding of her lack of relevance in the world. Brown's realization misses the mark, then, but Brill's realization is closer to the truth.

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