Literary Analysis Essay on The Garden Party

Introduction

In her story, The Garden Party, Katherine Mansfield presents a view of a wealthy family that used to hold their annual garden-party, but their neighbors were poor. Mansfield makes use of the character by the name Laura to showcase the difference between the family and the neighbors, especially at a time when one of the working-class men in the neighborhood had just died before the party started. Laura, though a member of the family, is the only person who is concerned about the dead man. Simply because the man came from a poor background and had no relationship with Mrs. Sheridan, other members of the family are not concerned at all. A critical analysis of the paper from the African American criticism perspective showcases the social difference between the family and the neighborhood. The neighbors of Mrs. Sheridan are poor, and she is endowed. There is an aspect of social stereotype, poverty, hardships, and in consideration such that the well-up families like that of Mrs. Sheridan can access even entertainment while the poor in the locality also go without food. The Garden Party is an accurate representation of social inequality depicted in the aspect of African American criticism.

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Mansfield presents the story in the aspect of a garden party that is not common for everyone in society. They require people who can afford the luxury and who have an adequate compound and financial ability to even hire a marquee for a party. Her use of the garden city is to establish in the mind of the reader the family that she seeks to speak about is one that is well up. By making the depiction of a family that is well up, the author showcases an exclusion of the family from the rest of society. But in real regard, it is not that the family is excluded from the rest of society. It is the poor people who live in the same locality as the family of Mrs. Sheridan that is excluded and cannot afford the same luxuries. The African American criticism context showcases the exclusion of African Americans in such an effective manner such that they cannot even afford necessities. Therefore, the larger community in which Mrs. Sheridan lives in shares a huge correlation with the African American society.

Mansfield also show the delegation of duties among the rich members to their children as a way to ensure that they keep the social status difference between themselves and the poor members of society. The prospect of racial prejudice, as seen in the African American criticism perspective, was largely based on the domination of the poor and the weak races. In the same way, Mrs. Sheridan seems to raise a culture of domination among her children. When she leaves Laura to oversee the men putting up the marquee, she says, "My dear child, it's no use asking me. I'm determined to leave everything to your children this year. Forget, I am your mother. Treat me as an honored guest." (Mansfield 8) While it could be that Mrs. Sheridan wants her children to be more responsible, she seeks to make them get used to the practice domination to ensure that they remain disintegrated but controlling the other part of the society. Her approach borrows heavily from the white supremacist approaches of dominating the African American society.

Discriminatory practices are carried out by the members of the society who are endowed and in a position to do as Mrs. Sheridan does. Tyson states, "Therefore, although anyone can be a racialist, in order to be a racist-in order to be in a position to segregate, dominate or persecute, one has to be in a position of power." (Tyson 360) Mrs. Sheridan is the one who is in the position of power in the concerned society. Her social influence is high because she is rich, and that is the reason she decides to continue with the party even when a neighbor dies as she has zero concerns about the lost life. Mansfield shows such a great consideration of the wellness of others on the side of Mrs. Sheridan. While Laura is concerned about the dead man, she is not concerned at all and wonders why the death of a neighbor would affect the party. She actually responds to Laura's fears by saying, "we've It's only by accident heard of it. If someone had died there normally-and I can't understand how they keep alive in those poky little holes- we should still be having our party, shouldn't we?" (Mansfield 8). The response showcases a complete disregard for other people as which is an aspect directed mostly by those who are endowed to those who are poor. Underestimation of the minority groups was one of the tenets used to make African Americans inferior in the United States. The same underestimation of the ability and the lives of the poor people is seen coming from Mrs. Sheridan. It showcases her support of the imbalance in a society, which makes the poor people be more oppressed rather than their living conditions being alleviated.

Though Mansfield's story does not showcase the oppression of the black community, it depicts a high level of inequality in society. Inequality causes a difference in even the way people are identified. For instance, the man who dies is named a 'working man' as a means of identification (Mansfield 8). The identification of the young man though not meant to showcase prejudice, directly identifies the inequality in society. Mansfield seeks to promote an ideology that some people like Mrs. Sheridan do not work but have people working for them. On the other hand, people who are working an identification of the middle class and the poor do not have much time to enjoy. The range of inequality that Mansfield identifies in the short story is a revelation of the same level of inequality extended to African Americans. Mansfield adopts the same strategy that was used by African American authors to explore the unique level of inequality in the specific society by shown how discrimination is enhanced by the considerably well-up members of society.

Just like African American criticism of social inequality has been, Mansfield's work criticizes the current state of the society in which Mrs. Sheridan and her family live. Mansfield, however, brings in the criticism in a very indirect manner. The author brings in Laura as the main character in the story. Though she has been born in a family where everyone views the difference between them and the poor as justified, she adopts a different view. She is responsible and feels it is necessary to bring insanity to the oppressed poor people. Though she receives a cold response from her mother and sisters, Laura is determined to see the creation of a way in which the poor in her society can be helped and their conditions alleviated. Most of the African American criticism engages such characters, too (Tyson 370). Amid oppression, many critical race theorists, as Tyson states, communicate about the oppression of their white counterparts who join them in the fight against oppression. In like fashion, Mansfield makes Laura the character who comes from the opposite side of the divide, the oppressing group to help uplift the lives of the deprived members of society.

At the end of the story, Mansfield makes such an unexpected view of how the rich and the poor people should come together. Many African American critical theorists, as Tyson states, tend to think that closing the gap between the rich and the poor and clearing up economic inequalities would be a way to create a more cohesive world. Mansfield's work makes a real application of these thoughts. Laura approaches Mrs. Sheridan and requests to visit the deceased family. While Mrs. Sheridan opposes Laura's idea and even makes her dress in a manner that insinuates, she does not care about the death of the neighbor. Somehow, Laura manages to visit the family and witness their suffering as well as replenish their supplies.

At the end of the story, Mansfield makes a sentimental end. When Laura visits and sees the dead man, she sits and thinks whether luxuries matter anymore to him. Her wonders are captioned in the statement, "He was given up to his dream. What did garden-parties and baskets and lace frocks matter to him? He was far from all those things." (Mansfield 11) Laura confronts her current state to the view of how life can be fragile. Through Laura, the author informs that human life should be considered worthy regardless of who it is. The fact that Laura sobs, after seeing the dead man, reveals her exposed perspective. She realizes that the life of everyone is essential, and they should be treated with decorum. The same sentiment is shared by several other African American critical theorists.

Katherine Mansfield's The Garden Party is a short story that showcases the inequality in society and the oppression of the poor by the rich. Her story showcases the situation of a rich family with a garden party, but a neighbor dies, and it almost disrupts the party. The story showcases a similar outlook as that of African American critical theorists who opposed the hardships directed to African Americans. Mansfield approaches, which included, directly and indirectly, opposing disregard, domination, and discrimination of African-Americans. The short story is, therefore, an effective one that displays awareness of the differences between the poor and the rich, which resembles the approach used in African American critical theorists.

Works Cited

Mansfield, Katherine. The garden party and other stories. Penguin, 1997. ISBN-13: 978-0140865288

Tyson, Lois. Critical theory today: A user-friendly guide. Routledge, 2014. ISBN-13: 978-0415506755