Reflecting on the Dead Essay -- essays research papers fc

Reflecting on the DeadIn Katherine Mansfields The garden Party and in D.H. Lawrences scent of Chrysanthemums, two wo hands were in a situation where death was literally at their feet. In The Garden Party, Laura finds herself contemplating the dead body of Mr. Scott, a piece of music of lower class who lived at the bottom of the hill from her house. In olfactory sensation of Chrysanthemums, Elizabeth finds herself contemplating the dead body of her husband, Walter. Although the human relationships these women shared with the dead men were completely opposite, they two had striking similarities in the ways that they handled the situation. Both women ignored the feelings of the families of the deceased, failed to refer to the deceased by name, matt-up shame in the presence of the deceased and both(prenominal) had a life and death epiph whatsoever. Although Laura and Elizabeth were in two similar however very different situations, they both had contemplated the dead men, acted i n similar ways, matte up similar emotions and both ended up having an epiphany regarding life and death at the end of the boloney.No real precaution was shown in either report card for family members of the dead. In fact the only concern shown by Laura and Elizabeth was only concern for themselves. In The Garden Party, Laura did not once show any comity for Mr. Scotts family. Even in the presence of the leave and her sister, Laura never mentioned anything astir(predicate) feeling sorry for them about their loss. The most concern shown for Mr. Scotts family was forwards a party that her family was throwing when she questioned, what the band would sound like to that poor muliebrity (Mansfield 2429). Laura also never showed concern for Mr. Scotts children. Her reference to Mr. Scotts married woman and children as the poor woman and those little children (Mansfield 2430), was the only sympathy the widow and her family received from her. Laura seemed only concerned with how terr ibly nervous she was and that she was being watched with perfect(a) eyes (Mansfield 2432). She didnt even acknowledge that Mr. Scott had a family that was suffering. Elizabeth, in Odour of Chrysanthemums, lacked the same condolence. Unlike Laura, this was her own family she lacked sympathy for. She never expressed any responsibilty about how her children were going to handle the loss of their father. At the end of the story is the only time Elizabeth expressed concern for her children ... ..., but Laura saw a beauty in death which helped her to see the beauty of life. Elizabeth realized the terrorization possibility that life was just an immediate placement and that her reality resided in death.Even though Laura and Elizabeth were uncompassionate towards the families, failed to call the deceased by their names, felt shame and had a life and death epiphany, both women had different stances and reasons concerning their actions. The relationship and the personal or social difference that Laura and Elizabeth shared with the dead men were all factors in how they acted, reacted and lastly how these affected the epiphany that the two women experienced end-to-end and at the end of these stories.Works CitedLawrence, D.H. The Odour of Chrysanthemums. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York W.W. Norton & Company. 2000. 2316-2330.Mansfield, Katherine. The Garden Party.The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York W.W. Norton & Company. 2000.2423-2433.