“The Garden Party”： Witness of a Girl’s World and the Real World

Yang+Xiuli

【Abstract】“The Garden Party” is Katherine Mansfields most outstanding short story. The writer loves the life in New Zealand， but doesnt avoid portraying the shades and dissatisfactions within it. The story went that the girl Lauras family had planned to have a party， but meanwhile a workman died in the neighborhood， so Laura suggested cancelling the party， which was thought ridiculous by the adult members in the family. This paper is to analyze the moral changes inside Laura， as is seen that she felt astonished and cold about her familys ruthlessness and realized some value distance between her and other family members. Based on the above analysis， this paper aims at revealing the collision between the innocent child soul and the distorted adult world.

【Key words】The Garden Party； Katherine Mansfield； Laura

“The Garden Party” intensively embodies the universal characteristics of all Katherine Mansfields excellent short stories： “plain plots， indicative language， allegorical motifs” （Yu 108）. It views the adult world from the eye of a little girl Laura. Underlying the childlike narration exists the writers concern about class conflicts， dream and reality， life and death， etc. Mansfield pioneers in the use of interior monologue and suggests a whole new way of life by tender touches and strokes， made with clarity of detail and exactitude of observation.

The story of “The Garden Party” is simple： the very wealthy Sheridan family was going to have a garden party. During the preparation， the news came of a dead workmans death. The daughter Laura， with her great sympathy， insisted that the party should be canceled off， but everyone else laughed at her silly idea. The party went on as usual. Later Lauras mother asked her daughter to send the leftover food to the dead mans family. However， the story is actually not what it seems to be. It embraces the individual psychological development and the social circumstances in miniature.

With the control of Mrs. Sheridan behind her back， Laura came into a social role on behalf of her family for the first time. She went to conduct the workers， trying to look severe：

“Good morning， ” she said， copying her mothers voice. But that sounded so fearfully affected that she was ashamed， and stammered like a little girl， “oh-er-have you come-is it about the marquee？” （Mansfield 226）

Unconsciously， Laura attempted to carry on her familys social status and to behave like a hostess in front of the hirelings. She imitated the tones and acts of the upper class， but the instinctive innocence of a child dissatisfied herself with what she had artificially done. Soon she resumed her pure girlhood. Laura found that a tall fellow of the workers “pinched a sprig of lavender” and “snuffed up the smell” （227） dreamingly. And from the trivial thing， Laura got a new understanding of the group despised by her mother and sister： the laborers loved life， beauty and nature. “Oh， how extraordinarily nice workmen were， she thought. Why couldnt she have workmen for her friends rather than the silly boys she danced with and who came to Sunday night supper？ She would get on much better with men like these.” （227） She “felt just like a work-girl” （227） with her preference to a refreshing living way.

That very morning， Laura was forced to enter the adult world in the appearance of a hostess. According to her family cultivation， Laura would very likely become a member of the “decent” circle， which viewed hypocrisy， snobbery and insensitivity as its virtues. However， due to the calling of a childs nature， the pure and natural beauty overwhelmed the erosion done by her family prejudice on the working group. Laura discovered something dramatical and started to re-examine the essence of the environment.

Not far from the Sheridans family were little cottages of poor people. “True， they were far too near. They were the greatest possible eyesore， and they had no right in that neighborhood at all” （231）. These were forbidden places for the Sheridan children， as they were afraid that they would learn dirty words of those “chaps”. Obvious class gap revealed itself in the contempt shown by the “superior” people. It went naturally that Lauras mother and sister thought it ridiculous to cancel the party just because a workman in the neighborhood died. But it was not accepted by Laura to have the band sing while the dead mans wife and children were crying nearby. She felt astonished and cold about her familys ruthlessness and realized some value distance between her and other family members. Laura began to doubt whether the previous values were moral or not. The distorted adult world and the innocent child soul clashed with each other. The girl deviated from her designed life track， with all her former confidence and self-approbation swept. Implicitly， here the author deepens her criticism on the prototype of the story materials—New Zealand and the family life there. Actually， most of Mansfields good works share a deep root in the culture of her homeland， which provides her with much of the aspiration she comes with. She loves the life in New Zealand， but doesnt avoid portraying the shades and dissatisfactions within it. This story witnesses her dialectical attitude in dealing with her mother country.

The story went that： To pacify Laura， and meanwhile to show that she was also a sympathetic person， Mrs. Sheridan had her daughter take the partys leftovers to the victims family. Laura seemed to have perceived a different world and a different life at the sight of the dead man on the bed. A kind of mystic atmosphere surrounded her： she didnt know what it was—terror， sadness， temptation， sympathy， detachment or spiritual elevation？ She only had to quit in a hurry with no answer to her inner question. “isnt life， ” she stammered to her brother， “isnt life—”（237）. She couldnt speak out what she had experienced internally， but she did have got a new understanding of life. No words followed isnt life—， for the writer intended to leave enough space for the reader to fill in the blank： isnt life so favoring the rich over the poor， so mystic and far—fetched， so transient and terrifying？ Is it really a sensuous acquisition that is beyond language. Mansfield left behind various possibilities of life for the reader via the absence of sounds and deliberately puzzled him or her in a soundless， but meaningful world.

There is a song called “life is weary” in the story that can not be neglected. It ends with “a dream—a wakening” （229）， while the story says the dead man “He was dreaming. Never wake him up again” （236）， which echoes with the song. Indeed the garden party itself symbolizes life—the temporary happy time between birth and death. When confronted with the death of another person， Laura “awaked from the weary， dreamlike life representative of the gentlemen who addicted to participating social gatherings” （Yu 111）. Her newly gotten knowledge of death means a termination of innocence and meanwhile a prelude of a new life attitude.

Through “The Garden Party”， Mansfield manages to reveal multiple sides of life. Some people were rich and comfortable， while some other poor and suffering； some took fun from party gathering， while some other cried for the dead. According to Lauras good-willed wish， all these should not have happened together. However， the realm of the society is much more complicated and serious that what exists in a little girls head. Happiness and sadness， beauty and ugliness， life and death exist in the same thing. According to Mansfield， there is same “dural-principle”： “Although life is filled with shamefulness and coarseness， we can better everything up if we have deep insight and see through the things behind these” （111）. While she brought the darkness of life into our vision， Mansfield hid its beauty between lines. “the garden party” indicated that beauty may find its outlet in ones own understanding of society and life. Death is also not horrifying， for it could be considered as the sublimation of mortals.

References：

[1]Mansfield，Katherine.“The Garden Party”.In Selected Readings in English Literature.Shanghai：Shanghai Transportation UP，2002，225-237.

[2]Yu，Jianhua.A Survey of New Zealand Literature.Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Languages Education Press，1994，108-113.

作者簡介：楊秀麗（1982-），女，漢族，江蘇鹽城人，碩士，南京曉莊學院，講師，研究專業及方向：比較文學與世界文學專業， 英美文學方向。