Describe an important relationship in the text(s). Explain why this relationship helped you understand a character OR idea in the text(s) Story1: Her First Ball The important relationship between: Leila and The Fat Man. The idea this relationship helped me understand the text is: Society places expectations on teenagers that are difficult to live up to- teenagers are expected to behave like adults when they are emotionally not ready for the realities of adulthood Because: while Leila is at the ball for the first time, she gets acquainted with a scruffy fat man.
The fat man tells Leila the harsh realities of being an adult. In which this makes Leila feel home sick and wishing she wasn’t an adult. Goal: To give enough explanation and detail to pass this essay Story2: The Garden Party The important relationship between: Laura and the dead man The idea this relationship helped me understand the text is: It is important to have a broad and objective view of life, and not let it be shaped by society/ class distinctions Because: It shows how Laura thought of the dead man and his family. She felt.
Laura felt many sympathetic emotions for him and his family, it made her begin to accept class distinction as Laura was from an upper class family compared to the dead mans family. Goal: To give enough explanation and detail to pass this essay Katherine Mansfield one of many famous New Zealand writers, help us understand an important relationship in a character and/ or idea in the text. Leila from Her First Ball and Laura from The Garden Party are characters that have no judgements. Leila is expected by society to behave like an adult when she is at her first ball.
She is then acquainted by a scruffy fat man who tells her about the ‘real’ life of adulthood. This helps the reader understand unhappiness. Leila opposes to act an adult on the outside. Nevertheless, it also helps the reader understand a teenager expected to behave like adults when they’re emotionally not ready for adulthood. Laura from The Garden Party is somewhat different from Leila. She is extended out of her comfort zone, walking down to the lower-class community. In the end sees the dead man where it is quite a peaceful xperience. This involvement in time helps the reader to understand that Laura begins to realise the trifling insignificance of such things as garden parties. Leila, from Her First Ball is having the night of her life, seeing Dark girls, fair girls were patting their hair, tying ribbons again and tucking handkerchiefs down the fronts of their bodices, smoothing marble-white gloves laughing it seemed to Leila that they were all lovely. Leila can’t help but let her childlike enthusiasm show through as she is enjoying every moment of it.
Until she no smiles much certainly not an issue later on. “An old man – fat, with a wrinkled shirt and waist coat- snatched her programme and murmured, ‘let me see… ” First thing Leila’s relationship with the fat man helps us understand the idea of society places expectations on teenagers that are difficult to live up to. This is shown after she dances with the fat man. He then tells her that “Some dreadful man tried to kiss her at the club ball. And your heart will ache, ache…. ” Leila swiftly doubts about her opinion of adulthood…
Was her first ball the beginning of her last? “She leaned against the wall, trying to smile… trying to hide her sorrow but hidden inside her a little girl threw her pinafore over her head and sobbed, Leila now homesick and imagining listening to the baby owls outside her country side house saying “mor pork. ” Another reason why Leila’s relationship with the fat man helps me understand the idea of that it shows us that inside she is not ready to be the adult she wishes to be, grieving “why has spoiled it all? ” Leila is confronted that she is clearly not ready to be an adult.
Only thinking that the fat man spoiled her night! Even though Leila may be accepted socially as an adult cause of her age, her mind is not quite ready to step into adulthood yet. We see that teenagers expected to behave like adults when they are emotionally not ready. Laura from The Garden Party is thoughtful of other people. She has also questioned about class society and how it has shaped her life. As Laura is uncomfortable as she is seeing the dead man and says sympathetically “Forgive my hat” as she is self conscious about her hat and the rest of her outfit.
But suddenly realises that seeing the dead man was rather peaceful. Laura ignores what society says and looks on the other side of life. A reason why Laura’s relationship with the fat man is important is because she felt sympathy for him and his family. “How her frock shone! And the big hat with the velvet streamer- if only there was another hat! ” she thins as she realises she is in an inappropriate dress. Compared to the “women in shawls and tweed caps who hurried by,” is if she was a know all duchess.
Laura herself feels the journey towards emotional maturity and found tranquillity seeing the fat man and his family. It has made her more mature like a woman more than her mother. Another reason why Laura’s relation with the fat man helps the reader understand the text is that she begins to accept the criticism the way people of class distinction to rule their lives, as she is from an upper class family unlike the dead mans. “No,” she sobbed. “It was simply marvellous,” as she told Laurie the experience of seeing the lower class people and how they’re no different to us.
We understand that Mansfield has criticised the gathering of the society she grew up in. In conclusion, Leila from Her First Ball and Laura from The Garden Party have different and meaningful relationships which help the reader understand Leila’s adult attitude on the outside and her childish innocence in the inside, and teenagers emotionally not ready to be an adult. Laura understands the ridiculousness of society and how it has shaped her life from being a child to more being like a young mature woman.
