The Birthday Party :: Literary Analysis, Katherine Brush

When a wife surprises her husband on his birthday, an ironic turn of events occurs. Katherine Brushs The Birthday Party is a miserable story about relationships, told from the perspective of a nearby observer. Brush uses the rowing and actions of the married mate to assert t palpebra a relationship based on selfishness is weak.Immediately, the narrator stereotypes the gibe by saying they looked unmistakably married (1). The join symbolizes a relationship. Because marriage is the deepest human relationship, Brush chose a married couple to underscore her message and strengthen the story. The husbands words demote their relationship. When the man rejects his wifes gift with punishingquick, curt, and unkind (19) words, he is being selfish. Selfishness is a matter of taking, just as love is a matter of giving. He has taken her emotional energy, and she is left crying gently and heartbrokenly (21). Using unkind words, the husband drains his wife of emotional strength and restitutio n their relationship.The husband was too selfish in his actions. With good intentions, the wife had think a surprise for him, but he was non pleased. Instead, he was heatedly embarrassed, and indignant at his wife for embarrassing him (13). When the narrator describes the husband at the beginning, he has a self-satisfied face (3). Embarrassment is a prove of feeling self-conscious. Because of his self-conscious nature, he assesses first how the few state in the restaurant will view him because of his wifes actions. He does not prioritize appreciation for his wifes effort and care, but sort of sees the worst in her misguided actions. The husbands selfishness causes him to be prideful, which in turn causes him to destroy his relationship with his wife through his actions.In a subtle way, Brush also makes the wifes actions selfish. Even though her husband was wrong to react in the way that he did, she was also selfish in her actions. Clearly, her husband has a shy personality be cause he was hotly embarrassed (13) in front of such few people as there were in the restaurant (11). Using a couple of this age (late thirties (1)), Brush asserts that the wife should have know her husbands preferences and been sensitive to them. The author also uses the seemingly diametral descriptions the couple There was nothing conspicuous about them (5) and the big hat (4) of the woman. The big hat reveals the wifes desire to be noticed.