Kindness Makes a Change
“The Doll’s House”, a short story written in 1922, by Katherine Mansfield depicts the cruelty of class distinctions. The Burnell children are gifted a dollhouse from Mrs. Hay who had recently stayed with them. The house is described by Mansfield as “...a dark, oily, spinach green, picked out with bright yellow.” The outside doesn’t seem to be anything special at all, however the children adore it and want to boast to everyone at school. Through the mannerisms of characters, details of the dollhouse, and symbolism readers witness cruelty between two social classes, the good in innocence, and a hopeful outlook.
Lil and Else Kelvey are the lowest social class in their neighborhood, because their mother is “a spry, hardworking little washerwoman”. Since the Kelveys are the lowest class they experience a lot of cruelty from the rest of the town. For example, when Lil was kind enough to bring the teacher flowers Mansfield describes how “Even the teacher had a special voice for them, and a special smile for the other children…” Everyone in town shunned the Kelvey family, showing the conflict between the Kelveys and the society. When the girls are mean to the Kelveys they …show more content…
The actions taken by the children is heavily influenced by the adults in their lives. On the playground, Emmie is telling the other girls that Lil Kelvey is going to grow up to be a servant like her mother Mansfield writes
“The Doll’s House”, a short story written in 1922, by Katherine Mansfield depicts the cruelty of class distinctions. The Burnell children are gifted a dollhouse from Mrs. Hay who had recently stayed with them. The house is described by Mansfield as “...a dark, oily, spinach green, picked out with bright yellow.” The outside doesn’t seem to be anything special at all, however the children adore it and want to boast to everyone at school. Through the mannerisms of characters, details of the dollhouse, and symbolism readers witness cruelty between two social classes, the good in innocence, and a hopeful outlook.
Lil and Else Kelvey are the lowest social class in their neighborhood, because their mother is “a spry, hardworking little washerwoman”. Since the Kelveys are the lowest class they experience a lot of cruelty from the rest of the town. For example, when Lil was kind enough to bring the teacher flowers Mansfield describes how “Even the teacher had a special voice for them, and a special smile for the other children…” Everyone in town shunned the Kelvey family, showing the conflict between the Kelveys and the society. When the girls are mean to the Kelveys they …show more content…
The actions taken by the children is heavily influenced by the adults in their lives. On the playground, Emmie is telling the other girls that Lil Kelvey is going to grow up to be a servant like her mother Mansfield writes