the garden party
... cancel now, and must proceed. Instead, her mother suggests that Laura bring some of the leftover food from the party to the family of the man. Laura reluctantly agrees. Once she arrives, what she sees, and experiences are life changing. Laura no longer feels honorable or extravagant in her attire, but more as an outcast in her lace frock and lavish hat. Once she enters the room that the man was kept in, it isn’t what she had expected at all. The sight wasn’t gruesome or sad, but rather calming, as if the man were sleeping and at peace with the rest of the world. The theme that seems to best demonstrate this short story is the idea of innocence and experience in life. Kristin LaBar October13, 2004 Laura begins the story with adolescent confusion regarding her social class, to having a very mature perception of life and the reality of it once she is exposed to the poverty end of the social class. When we are first introduced to Laura we get the impression that she has had a very “proper” upbringing, but still has her simple and sweet curiosity that comes along with childhood. Although Laura is very well mannered she is constantly striving to know more about what is going on around her. Throughout the story you watch how Laura undergoes a certain moral growth that has to do with understanding life—that sometimes it can be “marvelous”, sometimes it can be tragic, but most of the time it is wonderful. In the fo...