Jeremy Sorel Ms.

Holland AP English, 1st period 9 September 2012 Birthday Party The words Birthday Party generally evoke warm, pleasant memories, but Katharine Brushs Birthday Party is anything but warm and pleasant. The diction and tone of the piece lend a dismal, melancholy air to the entire affair, and the husbands selfishness and male-dominant tendencies only sour the mood further. Indeed, this short story serves as a commentary on the unjust place of women in society, and the effect it had on marriage during the late 1940s, the time period in which it was written. At the start of the story, Brush already characterizes the couple as mundane. Though unmistakably married, There was nothing conspicuous about them. It only becomes apparent that this couple is celebrating when the cake arrives. This implies that there is little or no joy in their marriage; there is only the husbands satisfaction that he occupies the rightful place in society as the head of the family. As the head of the family, he is opposed to having his wife act independently in public, for fear that it would make him look weak. Unfortunately, this is exactly what she proceeds to do, and she pays dearly for it. Though the small birthday cake would normally be a pleasant surprise, the husband is hotly embarrassed and indignant because he does not want his wife to overstep her boundaries by acting independently in public. This behavior shows the failings of romance in a male dominated marriage. The wife merely tries to show a small

amount of love for him with her surprise, and yet the husband squelches this kind gesture, leaving the wife devastated by grief. The shy pride she shows over her surprise, her attempt to please her husband is replaced by heartbroken sobs, a testament to the failings of their marriage. The husband does not even attempt to comfort her, and the narrator emphasizes the wifes grief, saying she cries quietly and heartbrokenly and hopelessly. The wife has no hope for her marriage. She is doomed to always be a dutiful trophy wife, to be seen and not heard, and to never have a passionate romantic relationship with her husband, simply because he is so obsessed with maintaining his social standing. The narrator clearly empathizes with the wife, as she couldnt bear to look at the woman while she was crying. From the narrators point of view comes Brushs own view on the situation at hand. Dont be like that, the narrator thinks, emphasizing the unjust treatment of the husband towards his wife. Not only are his actions unjust, they discourage any feeling of affection or closeness between the two. This is the ultimate moral of the story: when a marriage is tyrannically dominated by one gender, love is destined to fail.