The prevailing theme in The Garden Party and Other Stories is the examination of life and its particularities. Each of the stories focuses on a specific moment in time in the lives of the characters.

When examined from an autobiographical point of view, “The Garden Party” is about a young woman’s transformation from child to adult and the two worlds she finds herself between: the dreamlike sphere of wealth, comfort, and high social rank enjoyed by her family and the interesting-yet-challenging reality of the lower …

“The Garden Party” signifies how vast the gulf is between the social classes in the Edwardian time period and how difficult it is to bridge the gap, even when the individuals in question live very close to each other.

After the garden party, she leaves her family and “crosses the broad road” to the poor neighborhood where a young man has been killed. When she enters this man’s home and sees him in the casket, Laura realizes she, Mr. Scott, and the “nice workmen” are all part of the same world, a world in which people live and die.

What does Laura’s mother do for the family of the man who has died in The Garden Party? She makes the funeral arrangements for the man who has died. She sends the man’s family a basket of leftovers from the party.

After the garden party, she leaves her family and “crosses the broad road” to the poor neighborhood where a young man has been killed. When she enters this man’s home and sees him in the casket, Laura realizes she, Mr. Scott, and the “nice workmen” are all part of the same world, a world in which people live and die.

Hats symbolize the gulf between the Sheridans, the affluent middle class family giving the garden party, and the working class people they hire and who live in poverty nearby them. Hats represent the world of pleasures and luxuries that attract Laura and her cohort and distract their attention from the poor.

The garden on the Sheridans’ estate symbolizes Laura’s innocence. Like the Garden of Eden of the Old Testament of the Bible, it is a seemingly perfect place where nothing bad could ever happen. The sun is always shining, and people are always happy among the flowers and trees.

She says to his family members, “Forgive my hat.” Mansfield’s point is that class differences are built on an accumulation of small privileges, such as easy access to pastries, hothouse flowers, and fine hats. Class differences won’t go away, because those with privileges enjoy their luxuries too much.

Laura’s first reaction when she hears about the death of Mr. She is so shocked by the news, and shown to be rather innocent and naive, and thus she feels they cannot continue with their plans for a party whilst a woman would be grieving and her children would be coping with their father’s death.

Laura learns by the end of the story that there is a profound difference between the poor working class cottagers who live near her and her own affluent world. She is embarrassed by the expensive hat she wears and the leftover pastries she brings to the dead’s man’s home.

In “The Garden Party,” the most salient literary techniques are symbolism and imagery. The flowers symbolize innocence and the glamorous life of the Sheridans. Symbolism and imagery are used with equal effectiveness to describe the miserable life of the Scott family, whose patriarch has just died.

The Garden Party (short story) “‘The Garden Party” is a 1922 short story by Katherine Mansfield. It was first published (as “The Garden-Party”) in three parts in the Saturday Westminster Gazette on 4 and 11 February 1922, and the Weekly Westminster Gazette on 18 February 1922. It later appeared in The Garden Party: and Other Stories.

The prevailing theme in The Garden Party and Other Stories is the examination of life and its particularities. Each of the stories focuses on a specific moment in time in the lives of the characters.

garden party. n. a social gathering held in the grounds of a house, school, etc, usually with light refreshments.