Modernist, Katherine Mansfield, was well known for writings in her short stories. Mansfield had transformed the world by changing the structure of short stories which were based on an old fashioned structure and changed it to one which conveys what is being said in a more formal yet understanding tone allowing it to be classified as a literary form. She has done this through her most popular short story “The Garden Party”. She explores this through the class consciousness and life and death.
Katherine Mansfield is well known for her outstanding short story writing. She had used her life experiences as the core for and writing and sculpted all the ideas together creating exceptional pieces of literary work. “The Garden Party” is composed without …show more content…
Mansfield, creatively writes how the protagonist family’s home is a beautiful place place which gives life however this contrasts to the dark with the death of the neighbour (Patrick O’Neil). Mansfield uses imagery when describing how the protagonists enters the dead mans home and is greeted by a crowd of mourners and this completely contrasts to the residents throwing a party. Mansfield appropriately gives this a light and dark contrast to signify the idea of life and death and how easily it is taken away (Peter Childs pp. 93). Mansfield quotes the protagonist - “But we can’t possibly have a garden-party with a man dead just outside the front gate… And just think of what the band would sound like to that poor woman.” This then continues with her sister and mother disagreeing with her “You won’t bring a drunken workman back to life by being sentimental,”. Both these references lead the family to think that the protagonist is being irrational as is she doing everything to stop the party so her and her family don’t look bad. The end of the short story, Mansfield allows the protagonist to be exposed to the life that she has never been near – her realisation the the existence of life and death in the one world may be beautiful. She learns that death is a natural process and she finally understand the meaning of life and death in a world which all humans share. This contrasts to “At the end she tries to express her emotions: ‘Isn’t life,’ she stammered, ‘isn’t life’ – But what life was she couldn’t explain. The epiphany is real yet inexpressible” (Richard Gill, 2003). Gill explains how Laura, the protagonist, has came towards a new sense of freedom by changing her perceptive on the upper and lower classes as she had taken the step forward to see the mans death and learns how everyone is equal when it revolves around life and death. Mansfield allowed the protagonist to
Katherine Mansfield is well known for her outstanding short story writing. She had used her life experiences as the core for and writing and sculpted all the ideas together creating exceptional pieces of literary work. “The Garden Party” is composed without …show more content…
Mansfield, creatively writes how the protagonist family’s home is a beautiful place place which gives life however this contrasts to the dark with the death of the neighbour (Patrick O’Neil). Mansfield uses imagery when describing how the protagonists enters the dead mans home and is greeted by a crowd of mourners and this completely contrasts to the residents throwing a party. Mansfield appropriately gives this a light and dark contrast to signify the idea of life and death and how easily it is taken away (Peter Childs pp. 93). Mansfield quotes the protagonist - “But we can’t possibly have a garden-party with a man dead just outside the front gate… And just think of what the band would sound like to that poor woman.” This then continues with her sister and mother disagreeing with her “You won’t bring a drunken workman back to life by being sentimental,”. Both these references lead the family to think that the protagonist is being irrational as is she doing everything to stop the party so her and her family don’t look bad. The end of the short story, Mansfield allows the protagonist to be exposed to the life that she has never been near – her realisation the the existence of life and death in the one world may be beautiful. She learns that death is a natural process and she finally understand the meaning of life and death in a world which all humans share. This contrasts to “At the end she tries to express her emotions: ‘Isn’t life,’ she stammered, ‘isn’t life’ – But what life was she couldn’t explain. The epiphany is real yet inexpressible” (Richard Gill, 2003). Gill explains how Laura, the protagonist, has came towards a new sense of freedom by changing her perceptive on the upper and lower classes as she had taken the step forward to see the mans death and learns how everyone is equal when it revolves around life and death. Mansfield allowed the protagonist to