The Garden Party and The Diary of a Madman
Mansfield in The Garden Party is a story that focuses on class division as well as the awareness that various characters within the short story have towards that division. It is prudent to note that the elemental concept as supposed in the story includes the fact that the elide prejudice the working-class and as such an unequal society is created. However, the story also brings about the concept that interactions between the elite and the working class could alter the perceptions of some people with regard to social understanding. Conversely, issues of conventional societal structures can also be seen in Lu Xun’s short story, The Diary of a Mad Man. Through symbolism, Lu Xun manages to point out the traditional Chinese way of life and, through his critical analysis, deviates from the traditions. This discourse is going to analyze these two texts in light of how they conform or do not conform to the traditions of the era in which they were written.
Firstly, The Garden Party conforms to the traditional class consciousness that existed at the time. It is prudent to note that the traditional societal construct at the time was that there was a difference between the bourgeoisie, who were wealthy and, in this case, the Sheridans’ and the proletariat who were the working class and who included the family of the man who had died as well as the workers at the party. It can be depicted from Laura’s interaction with the workers who had come to move the Marquee that she is at first class conscious. This is evidenced by the fact that she tries to copy her mother’s voice as she went to direct them (Turlington, n.d). The fact that she wanted to emulate her mother when talking to the workers shows that she was aware of the expectations as well as the attitudes that she was obligated to align herself with by virtue of her social status.
It can be noted, however, that she becomes amazed at how freely the men talk to her, and she begins to compare these men, the workers, with the men who frequent their home for Sunday night supper. Again, a traditional conformation is seen in this case, where the wealthy did not allow their children to mix with the children of the low class and, as such, only allowed them to mix with the children from the same wealthy status. A deviation from the traditional expectation can be seen when Laura becomes aware of the death of Mr. Scott. It is at this point that her privilege is made open to her, and she begins to consider looking at the world from the perspective of the lower class. She even goes ahead to suggest to her mother that they should stop the party because of death (Turlington, n.d). Two essential aspects of tradition are seen here. The first is the response of Jose and Mrs. Sheridan, who were surprised if not disgusted by Laura’s suggestion, which was conventionally characteristic of the wealthy class. Secondly, there is the pity that Laura shows towards the bereaved family, which was uncharacteristic of Laura’s class at the time.
Several instances in The Garden Party exist to evidence that the conformation to the traditions of the time. It is without a doubt that the era that this short story was written in the 1920s. The social construct concerning class at this time was that the wealthy class was superior to the working class and that the two should not mix in their interactions since their perspectives of life were different. Through The Garden Party’s character Laura, Mansfield is able to show that interaction between the two classes was possible and that there were aspects of life that traversed the aspect of traditional social classes, such as death.
Lu Xun uses symbolism to refer to traditional China by referring to it as cannibalistic. From the numerous instances, that the narrator of The Diary of a Madman has recounted of the village people who look at him like they want to eat him as well as the story from the tenant who also recounts of how a man’s liver was fried and eaten, the society in this story fits the cannibalistic nature as alluded. It is prudent to note that as a writer in traditional China, Lu Xun explains through the madman character that free-thinking was not possible or that it was not allowed. This can be evidenced by the time when the narrator asks his brother if “eating other men was right (Turlington, n.d).” His brother was agitated by the question, and it can be seen from how the madman says he got angry and asked that the narrator be confined. It is prudent to note that the brother stated that “Whoever talks about such things is wrong.”
If the story is taken in the symbolic nature that Lu Xun intended it to be taken, it can be seen that the people in the village were all afraid to speak and the fact that the narrator could speak made the villagers look at him like they wanted to “eat” him. The conventional relationship between the story and the era was the fact that in traditional China, Confucian virtue made free-thinking as well as eccentricity extinct. Additionally, the line “wanting to eat men, at the same time afraid of being eaten themselves, they all eye each other with the deepest suspicion… (Turlington, n.d)’ also related to the ideals and nature of the Confucian society which at the time were limited to the fact that the society could not relax but instead, everyone had to get to the top irrespective of the associated cost.
Lastly, it can be noted from the story that when Confucianism was defeated with the Fourth May Movement, the Madman went to take up a government job. This is also characteristic of the tradition at the time. From the build-up, it can be seen that he was part of those that were against the cannibalistic nature of the society to the point that he was branded a madman. This can be taken to mean that he was among those who were vehemently against the Confucian societal nature. When the cannibalistic society was defeated, he took up the job as it was intended.
Reference
Turlington, A. (n.d.). Compact Anthology of World Literature: The 17th and 18th Centuries (Part 6). Dahlonega, GA: University of North Georgia Press.