“Birthday Party” by Katherine Brush Essay

In the Birthday Party, Katherine Brush portrays what at first behold seems to be an innocent dinner between a happily married play off however, when viewed closer is obviously a dinner gone wrong. Her manipulation of metaphor, along with other literary devices, help show how things arent of all condemnation as they seem. The story starts off in a intellectual, light-hearted manner, describing a charm married couple. The detail of the round, self- sit downisfied face of the man and the fadingly pretty charwoman help describe their attitudes and mannerisms. The self-satisfied face of the man gives off an mould of arrogance, which makes the reader dislike him. The woman on the other hand, pulls the reader in. Her heroic hat a metaphor for her big heart. The first paragraph is also where Brush introduces the growing contrast between big and inadequate, which is carried on passim the story. The little narrow restaurant in which the unmistakably married couple dined at conveys just how simple the date was suppose to be by emphasizing how little it was.Brush refers to the inside atmosphere when she describes that the couple sat opposite of us, which makes the reader feel as if he/she were also in the narrow restaurant about to watch the scene unfold. The word little is repeated again when Brush depicts the little perplexity the wife had eagerness up for her husband to again touch upon how small the gesture was. The streak is portrayed to be small but glossy, which adds to the littleness of the surprise and how deplorable key is was meant to be. Just a little reminder of her feelings towards her husband. When the orchestra played happy birthday to you, the wife beamed with shy pride over her little surprise. The wife beaming over her little surprise is paralleled with the one pink cadmium burning on the cake, representing the wifes loneliness even though she is in a relationship.It is obvious that the wifes little surprise was taken out of hand when the author explains that help was needed in society to calm the husband down. This conveys how mad he was, and how he didnt appreciate his wifes kind, little gesture for him. The author brings the intimate elements back around when she adds that you looked at him, and you saw this and you thought. The repetition of you emphasizes the intimate atmosphere, making the reader feel as if she/he were experiencing this with the onlooker. Everyone around them sensed the stress and the anger felt by the husband towards his wife. Brush uses cacophony when describing the  libertine and kurt and unkind comment the husband made to his wife in order to show how bitter and angry the husband was.We see just how pass the wife is because, even after the bystander waited for quite a long time before looking, she was still crying. She cries all to herself, showing the loneliness under the human big brim of her best hat, which is happily hiding her from the terrible remarks of her selfish, bad- mannered husband. The intimate mood of the restaurant is cut through with the harsh wording of Brushs word choice and the nasty remarks made by the husband. The couple that seemed so perfect in the beginning is now separate apart and weeping. The simple surprise that the wife made is ruined exit her feel lonely even though she is in a relationship.