In the short story “Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield, the author describes and contrasts two very different settings, one of a wealthy, upper class gathering, and the other of a poor man’s funeral. Both descriptions paint a clear picture in the mind of the reader, helping to understand the disparity between the two classes, a major theme in the story. Mansfield begins the story with an in-depth portrayal of the lands surrounding the Sheridan …showed first 75 words of 448 total…

…showed last 75 words of 448 total…dark ambience. By experiencing this side of people, Laura learns to understand how well off she is, and learns to appreciate her life, unmistakably shown at the end when she can’t even find a word to describe how grand life is. Mansfield does an excellent job in describing two very contrasting settings, and makes them merge into one at the end with Laura realizing that life is wonderful, wherever or however one may live.