The book ‘The Garden Party’ by Katherine Mansfield is about the wealthy Sheridan family are preparing themselves to host a garden party. Laura is charged with commanding the workers on the placement of the marquee, and with whom she feels a personal connection to. Laura's mother, Mrs Sheridan, has ordered masses of lilies, to both their delight. Laura's sisters, Meg and Jose, and their servant Hans, move furniture around to accommodate the piano. After surveying the food in the kitchen, Laura and Jose learn that their working-class neighbour Mr Scott has died just outside their gate. When the evening comes, and the family is sitting underneath the marquee, Mrs Sheridan tells Laura to bring a basket full of leftovers to the Scotts' house. Laura is led into the poor neighbours' house by Mrs Scott's sister, and is led to the late husband's corpse. Here, Laura is intrigued by the peacefulness of the dead man's face, and she finds his face in death just as beautiful as life as she knows it.
Class consciousness and the awareness of all classes is a useful and important trait that helps reduce unnecessary discrimination based on class. Sometimes, one can discriminate a specific person or group of people because of their appearance and status, Because of that, it can raise stereotypes about some people. In the book, Laura Sheridian had class consciousness, and she even had a personal relationship with the workers. Laura understood what is was like to be a worker and knew that is was hard for them. So, instead of criticizing them or being disappointed, she appreciated them. She understood economic rank and thought of it as something that connects people instead of making people dislike eah other. Plus, although Laura was put to be in charge of the workers, she still communicated with them and didn’t boss them around or think she is superior because her family is wealthy. Class consciousness is the ability to be aware and respect the values of different classes. Although class consciousness usually refers to the working class, it can still apply to the middle and upper classes. Class consciousness can come from many different ways, but most commonly, one can share a personal connection with someone else and relate to them. False class consciousness can also happen when one does something behalf of someone else instead of benefitting themselves. Class consciousness can some in many ways, and with that comes the awareness and the belief that there is no superiority or judgment based on it.
Although life and death are contracting elements of life, sometimes, they can work together to make a more peaceful surrounding, although it can be hard to think about it. Although life and death are things that has happened or will happen to everyone, and they have different interpretations, similarities can still be shared among them. In the book, when Mr. Scott, the Sheridans’ lower class neighbor dies, Laura thought the party should be stopped, while no one else thought so. She understood the hardships the Scotts’ were facing and wanted to console them. Apart from that, when Laura saw the body of Mr. Scott, she realized the peacefulness of death. Her realization of the astounding simplicity of life helped her interpret death as a positive light. Death and life can co-exist, and to Laura, death seems to be solely a sound sleep far away from troubles in human life. Life and death are co-existing aspects of elements everyone has to experience. Sometimes, death can seem like a trouble right before the end of life, but its interpretation can be more than that. Although death can seem deadly to many, it is simply being in a forever and peaceful sleep, without any disturbance or worries and free from all the complexity and troubles of life. Life and death can be contradicting, but when digging deeper, one might find out that death is simply a form of a peaceful end to life.
Sensitivity is the agility and ability to understand how others are feeling and adjusting to the conditions based on those factors. Sometimes, sensitivity can be hard to achieve, like when one is feeling let down, but others are still making fun of them and not caring about what is happening. In the book, Laura was sensitive towards the workers, and knew how they felt. But, apart form that, she was also sensitive towards the death of Mr. Scott. When he died and the entire family is mourning, the Sheridian family was still hosting a party. Laura though the party should be canceled because of what had happened earlier, but no one else listened. She knew how the Scotts were feeling and wanted to adjust to their mood, showing her remarkable generosity and responsiveness. Sensitivity can have major impacts on pretty much anyone. When one is sensitive, they know what others are going through, just like empathy. Sensitivity can apply to one both physically and mentally, where they are sensitive ot many things, including one’s needs, thoughts, problems, feelings, etc. They also respond to changes, even the subtle ones where most people won’t notice or respond to. They are usually always open and experience many different types of emotions. Sensitivity can be described as empathy and the ability to cause and notice changes, especially to how others are feeling and not judging, and instead simply caring for them.
Class consciousness, the relationship of life and death, and sensitivity are all essential elements that make up ‘The Garden Party’. Class consciousness and awareness of different classes gives one an idea of being equal and that there is no superiority when talking about classes. In the book, Laura had class consciousness and didn’t disrespect or discriminate the workers based on their class. Instead, she even appreciated them and had personal relationships with them. Although life and death are somewhat contradicting, they can still have similarities and relationships. When Laura saw the dead body of Mr. Scott and saw what death really looked like, she realized that it is just a peaceful and eternal sleep that blocks out all of the troubles and hardships in human life. Sensitivity is the ability to understand how others are feeling and care for them instead of judging. Laura was sensitive towards how the Scotts were feeling when Mr. Scott first died. She knew it was a hard time for the Scott family, so she didn’t feel like partying was the best idea at the time based on the conditions, and it showed her responsiveness and care for others.
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