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Analysis of the short story Birthday Party by Katherine Brush
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Marriage is a big point of many people’s lives but even if you see a perfect couple every marriage has its ups and downs. Katharine Brush wrote a short story called Birthday Party to show the relationship between a husband and wife going through a decision of divorce. Katharine Brush uses imagery, symbolism, and tone to show the major conflict between the couple. Brush uses imagery to show the wife and husband’s love. “Crying quietly and heartbrokenly and hopelessly, all to herself, under the gay big brim of her best hat.” The imagery of the wife crying hopelessly shows that the she still loves her husband and even wore her best hat for the occasion, but is rejected and not given a second chance to make things better. The crying shows
Imagery is used in thus poem to help the reader unsderstand exactly what hte Century Quilt looks like, and to know more about the speakers family. The first use of imagery can be seen on line 15-17 when the speakers says’ six van Dyke brown squares, two white ones, and one sqaure the yellow brown of Mama’s cheeks.”(15-17) This quote explains exactly how the Century Quilt looks and how specifally the speaker describes the Century Quilt shows how important it is to her. Within this quote it can also be reasonably inferred that this quilt is hand made. When the poem says “the yellow brown of Mama’s cheeks” it helps to show how this
The novel “The Orphan Train” written by Christina Baker Kline is a fictional portrayal of a young girl who migrated to America from Ireland, and found herself orphaned at the age of ten in New York City in the year 1929. The book tells the story of the pain and anguish she suffered, and the happiness she would later find. From the mid 1850’s through the early 1900’s there was an surge of European immigrants just like Niamh and her family who came to America in search of a better life. Unfortunately, most were not as prosperous as they had hoped to be. As a result, many poverty-stricken children were left orphaned, abandoned, and homeless. They roamed the streets looking for food, money, and refuge by any means necessary. Since there
This duality is concealed within a character because the darkness(truth) conflicts with the light(dreams/hopes) when we hold onto our desire to unite ourselves with our true lover. The author reveals that the light of the “sunset” represents the strength, by illuminating that days are going by, but the true lover still sticks to their strength. The author portrays darkness through the “death” of the“lilacs” representing the inevitable truth that one has to face when holding onto their desire to meet their true love. Parker illustrates that one whose “eyes are deep with yearning”, will persist to their strength until their determination does not overcome the obstacles preventing one from accessing true love, embracing love as a natural and beautiful thing. “Deep” represents her strength and “yearning” is symbolic of her desire to meet her husband. “Yearning” adds a sense of beauty and “deep” illuminates a depth to her strength and how it can overpower obstacles in her life. The author blends “deep” with “yearning” to enhance and illustrate that when we hold a desire we have to deepen our strength and embrace it to achieve what we aspire. The image of “an old, old, gate” where “the lady wait[s]” emphasizes the idea that her husband’s death is “old”; it occurred many years ago, but
Through the use of a structure that contains winded syntax and strong imagery, Waniek conveys that the quilt personified in the passage symbolizes the family’s history and represents how important it is to cherish all the little things in life.
This imagery is incredibly personal, as it discusses the loss of a person. This quote suggests that it is the loss of a loved one because of the added phrase “the joking voice, a gesture I love” (Bishop 556). This quote shows that the person that was lost was important and familiar to the narrator, while simultaneously a loss that was easy to accept. The imagery used in within this poem purposefully starts off with impersonal items and the simplicity of grieving for them, as it adds to the meanings of the final example of imagery displayed in the poem. Bishop writes that the grieving and acceptance come quickly, regardless of the fact the lost entity is a house key or a loved one. This tension effectively portrays the theme, as well as leave room for a second interpretation. The last line of the poem, Bishop says that writing poetry about loss is just as easy as “the art of losing” (556). The final stanza brings forth two meanings of One Art, suggesting most poetry has multiple
In the prose, “Birthday Party” by Katharine Brush, tells us about a couple who is celebrating a birthday in the end result not only did the husband indignant at his wife but also made her cry. Brush uses literary devices to successfully allow the readers to believe itś going to be something positive. Brush used point of view, descriptive details, and mood.
In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” the author interprets his experiences through imagery in the poem. Roethle is describing the
Symbolism in the poem is used to describe a painful setting. That setting is used to symbolize the pain the speaker is experiencing when she is reflecting on her lover. The phrase,
Initially he views his wife as a mere possession, a toy doll. which he is able to show off at party’s to the admiration of fellow. members of powerful society, ‘curtsy here, curtsy there – and the vision of loveliness was gone as they say in fairy tales.’ However.
In “The Yellow Wall-paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the unnamed female protagonist is going through a rough time in her life. (For now on, this paper will refer to this unnamed character as the “the narrator in ‘Wall-paper,’” short for “The Yellow Wall-paper. The narrator is confined to room to a room with strange wall-paper. This odd wall-paper seems to symbolize the complexity and confusion in her life. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard must also deal with conflict as she must deal with the death of her spouse. At first there is grief, but then there is the recognition that she will be free. The institute of marriage ties the two heroines of these two short stories together. Like typical young women of the late 19th century, they were married, and during the course of their lives, they were expected to stay married. Unlike today where divorce is commonplace, marriage was a very holy bond and divorce was taboo. This tight bond of marriage caused tension in these two characters.
When a wife surprises her husband on his birthday, an ironic turn of events occurs. Katherine Brush’s “The Birthday Party” is a short story about relationships, told from the perspective of a nearby observer. Brush uses the words and actions of the married couple to assert that a relationship based on selfishness is weak.
This metaphor showcases how the wife tries to conceal her unloving marriage from the world in hope that it will be resolved, yet she still suffers from the way the man treats her. The small candle on the cake is another metaphor used to portray the loneliness of the wife. This feeling is a common emotion felt by many victims of a detached relationship. The description “...one pink candle burning in the center”, gives the candle a feminine trait which reflects the wife. The cake, which the candle was used for was not well received by the husband and the celebration comes to a halt. Then, the cake is ignored and the candle burns in loneliness. Similar to the cake and the candle, the wife and her efforts have never been appreciated or respected by her husband. Much like the cake, the wife is ignored, and she lives her life in desolation and solitude. Lastly, the setting symbolises the wife’s lack of importance to her husband. The setting is described as “a little narrow restaurant” and with a few
To begin, in “There is No Word for Goodbye,” by Mary Tall Mountain, imagery is used to bring emotion into the words that are spoken. It helps the reader understand how truly indicative the aunt’s words are. For example, it says, “Sokoya, I said, looking through/the net of wrinkles into/wise black pools/of her eyes.” (Page 678, lines 1-4). The net of wrinkles shows her age, which indicates wisdom. The wise black pools of her eyes supp...
Throughout the poem the reader can identify many different examples of imagery being used to convey the theme. For her the chair is one of the most important items that holds a special place in her heart because her dad would always sit on it. It being empty shows how empty her life is after her father’s death. Also, while the poet puts on her father’s blue cardigan, she feels cold in the dark. This shows the loneliness and sadness she feels after losing her father. Another example is when she says the hot July afternoon her father is wearing
list and more, good old dad. I think I've got about 10 coming plus all