Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Chapter 27
Ok--we're finished!!! Answer the questions on page 265. (1) What does the story signify? What is Mansfield saying in the story? What do you see as its meaning? AND (2) What does it signify? What elements does Mansfield employ to cause the story to signify whatever it signifies? What elements, in other words, cause it to mean the things you take it to mean?
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1. Mansfield is saying that the people who have it all when it comes to material things do not have the morals, decency, and love that those who do without them have. The more material things you have, the harder it is for people to see things in a humble way. Mansfield is saying that the rich and powerful people are afraid of the working class. 2. I think the meaning of this story is to show how far apart people set themselves away from who they believe are not as good as. They look at the poor and the middle class as low society. 3. Mansfield employes the scene of the girl, feeling bad about the mans death and wanting to stop the party out of respect. Her family looks at her like she is crazy and that the death shouldn't interfere with their extravaganza, however later she dreads taking the food to the mans family. Very ironic. 4. The weather was sunny and bright before the death of the man was discovered, then when the girl goes to take the food to the family of the man, it becomes cloudy and bleak, signifying her fear of the lower class people.
ReplyDelete1. The story signifies that people who are more privileged than others usually have a hard time with being compassionate and understanding that most people aren't as fortunate as them. People who are wealthy usually think they are better than others and look down on those less fortunate than them.
ReplyDelete2. The author uses the fact that when Laura wanted to stop the garden party because someone had died, her mother acted like she was crazy to show that wealthy people sometimes look down on others. When the mother refused to cancel the party, it showed that she really didn't care about the man's death. She wanted to go on with her party, even though the people near her were going through a very hard time.
1. I believe that this story signifies the discrepancy between the working class and the more privileged higher up part of society. The wealthy believe that they are much better than the working class, and that working class people aren't even on the same level as them. They believe that whatever they want always comes first and the less fortunate have no feelings and are not important.
ReplyDelete2. The author has all the characters in the story referring to the less fortunate, as "creatures" and "those people" and never referring to them by name. Also Jose and the mother do not see why Laura wanted the party to be cancelled because the man died outside the front gate. The mother even says "You won't bring a drunken workman back to life by being sentimental". She assumes he was drunk and shows no sympathy. To reassure she has no guilt about the ordeal she has Laura take "scraps" of food left from the party to the wife of the dead worker. These are further examples of how the wealthy believe they aren't even the same species as the poor, and how they try to distance themselves as much as possible from them.
1. Mansfield is trying to show that people who have everything are not as appreciative as those who don't have as much. The story shows how upper class looks at lower and middle class people as not worthy as they are.
ReplyDelete2.The author showed how even though this girl was wealthy she still felt compassion for the man who had died and his family. The girl was nervous about going to his family because of how she lived compared to them. Although a man had died her mother didn't stop the party because she didn't feel like he was worth it.
1.) This story is trying to show that people who are privileged and part of the upper crust of society are less understanding because they cannot relate to how less fortunate people feel. Mansfield is trying to show the differences of how the classes work I think.
ReplyDelete2.) This story signifies the differences not only among the classes of people but also the differences within the classes. Her mother acted better than the lower class, but her daughter was sympathetic and considerate. I also think this story signifies how much better people think of themselves than what they actually are. It is true though that people really are afraid of other social classes. The lower class is afraid that the higher looks down on them, which is true most of the time. But, you would think that the higher class has nothing to fear of the lower class, but they fear them because they are different. With this story the mother acts like her daughter is nuts for even caring.
1. I think that the story signifies different classes of people. It showed how people of higher class have less respect and sympathy for people of a lower class.
ReplyDelete2. The author showed that death brought the two classes together. The girl felt sorry for the lower class family because they had lost a family member. Her mother didn't feel the same sympathy, which is why the Garden Party wasn't stopped.
1 I think that the story points out the differences classes of society. It shows that the upper class is less appreciative toward their belongings than the working class.
ReplyDelete2 The author used the man dying to bring the classes together. The girl tried to tell the family but felt bad because of how she lived and when her mother found out she kept partying and acted like it was no big deal for the death of that man so the party kept going.
1. I think Mansfield is trying to show that people who get everything they want don’t appreciate the simple things and take those things for granted, as for people who don’t get everything they want, really appreciate things such as love and compassion.
ReplyDelete2. I think the author was able to show what he meant by the way he contrasted the classes. The way he referred to the people, such as “creatures,” really helped show the way they were thought to be.
To me it seems like he is saying that people who have it all do not have many morals and are rude to people who do not have the same wealth of some sort as they do. In retrospect he is saying that the rich and famous are in some way scared of the working class or the poor. to me it shows and somewhat proves how the rich and famous set themselves apart from the poor, or the people they feel are not as good as them. The tend to see the poor and some of the middle class citizens as low lives. it gives proof to this fact by that when the man died, the woman did not want to cancel her party, which showed she did not care about him or his death even though everyone around her was morning and in shock due to his death.
ReplyDelete