Rashad Young
Mr. Salsich
9English
11.4.2008

Double Take; A second look at the Garden Party

If you were walking down the street and saw a man walking on stilts you would probably take a few looks at this man. This is
exactly what we did with “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield. Looking over this story multiple times freed up any confusion there was in the original reading. Reading through the garden party a second time made me notice many things that would have otherwise gone under my radar.
Though there were many things that were new to me in the second reading only a few popped out at me. What I noticed was how quickly Laura wanted to stop the garden party when the man died. Though this was a tragic moment it would not be reasonable to discontinue a whole initiation ceremony. It almost seemed as if Laura did not want to continue with the party for some unknown reason. Laura also added, “Jose! However are we going to stop everything”, this was another part that had contributed my last point. After re-reading this section of the story it almost made me think that she did not want to be initiated. She continuously tried to stop the party almost as it she hadn’t become of age quite yet. The final thing that I noticed was when Ms. Mansfield was describing the deceased man. She stated that he was “remote” and “peaceful”. As I was reading this I was thinking how death is not always a bad thing, it is our time to join out creator. Laura had seen life, watched ongoing conflict, and observed a peaceful death. (3 Action)
I believe that reading this book a second time enabled me to understand and realize many things that I did not see in the first reading. Laura had endured many different hills and valleys throughout her day of initiation. With this story being so engaging I do not think it would be a bad idea to read a third time. Even on the third time through I would probably find a handful of treasure that went unnoticed.