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Innocence and Experience
Laura begins the story as an innocent. Her family’s home and garden shelter her from the complex, troubled world outside their gates. She romanticizes the “extraordinarily nice workmen,” noting their friendliness and lack of pretense. She wishes that she could be friends with men like these, who care for the scent of lavender and whistle while they work. Laura criticizes the “absurd class distinctions” that make such friendships taboo, feeling like a working girl as she eats her plain bread-and-butter sandwich.
However, the tragic accident so near her family’s home disrupts her sheltered existence. She is struck by the awfulness of the situation and naively thinks that the family will cancel the garden party. When her sister and mother call the idea “absurd” and “extravagant,” she awakens to the selfishness of her family and social class. She wonders if they are right, wanting to return to the innocence she felt before. And, for a while, she retreats to her old self during the party.
After the party, though, Laura must leave her sheltered home to deliver a basket of food to Mr. Scott’s widow and orphans. As she goes down the hill to the poorer part of the neighborhood, she feels strongly out of place and experiences discomfort with her showy clothing and the thoughtless gift of leftover food. Although she wants to retreat to the safety of home, she continues forward. Laura experiences the lowly conditions of her poor neighbors’ existence and bears witness to their grief. Yet, on seeing Mr. Scott’s peaceful body, she has an epiphany. She acknowledges his death as a freedom from the burden of poverty.
Laura begins her return home as a changed person. The day’s events have shaken her sheltered innocence, and she has gained the experience of the wider world.
Family Relationships
Laura is coming of age, and that means she is caught between her family’s values and expectations and her desire to be her own person apart from them.
Adhering to her mother’s direction, Laura goes to the garden to supervise the working men. However, Laura tries and fails to adopt her mother’s severe look and voice when interacting with them. Mrs. Sheridan manipulates Laura by giving her a hat to distract her from thinking about their grieving neighbors. Despite accepting her mother’s gift, Laura refuses to look at herself in her mother’s mirror.
Laura expects Jose, her mother, and Laurie all to agree with her about canceling the party because of the accident. Both Jose and Mrs. Sheridan surprise her by disagreeing and calling the idea “absurd.” Laurie, like his mother, distracts Laura with compliments on her hat rather than asking why she is upset.
Like many sisters, Laura and Jose have clashing personalities. While Laura is artistic and loves arranging things, Jose loves commanding the servants. Jose looks to her mother for approval after she sings her song, childishly calling her “mummy.”
Laura and Laurie seem close, both in age and affection. Yet the day’s events highlight their differences. Laura seeks his opinion on canceling the party but decides against it. When he comes looking for her at the end of the story, he shows concern for her but none for their grieving neighbors.
Mr. Sheridan hardly appears in the story. At the party, Laura asks him for permission to give drinks to the band. She calls him “Daddy darling,” showing a child-like attachment. He shows more sympathy toward the Scotts than his family does, aside from Laura. Mrs. Sheridan thinks he’s “tactless” to mention the accident.
Life and Death
The story suggests a marked division between life and death that seems to align with class divisions. The Sheridans’ garden is lush and fertile. It has an overabundance of rose flowers that weigh down the bushes on which they grow. The house is alive with activity. At the party, guests are like colorful birds flitting here and there.
In contrast, the gardens of the poor have celery stalks and sick chickens. Their part of the neighborhood is smoky and dark. The cottages are “in deep shade” below the Sheridan’s property. The people gathered at the Scott home are “a dark knot.” The Scott house is still and gloomy. Inside, Mrs. Scott sits grieving by the fire in the dimly lit kitchen while Mr. Scott lies dead in the bedroom.
But the lines between life and death are crossed. Death comes to the Sheridans’ doorstep. The fatal accident happens nearby, and news of it creeps quietly into the household, causing discord between Laura and her family. Life, in turn, comes to the Scott home in the shape of Laura. She carries within her the warmth of the party. She brings food, symbolizing nourishment and life. When Laura views Mr. Scott’s body, she sees beauty and not tragedy. In his death, she finds a greater understanding of life.
