Laurie- brother of Laura; warm, boyish voice; tells Laura to go and answer the telephone; finds Laura crying (at the corner of the lane) after she had left the poor lady’s house
Sadie- a servant who is ordered by the cook to bring in the cream puffs and put them on the table
Mrs. Sheridan (mother)- tells her daughter to wear the sweet hat (black hat trimmed with gold daisies and long black velvet ribbon) she had on last Sunday; ordered a lot of canna lilies and figured the garden party to be a good excuse; did not want to stop the party just because of the death of the guy; she says that its only by accident that they heard of the death and argued that its not very sympathetic to spoil everybody’s enjoyment as Laura was then; she decides to make a basket of leftovers after the party and tells Laura to deliver it to the poor lady's house; gives the arum lilies thinking of the people of the class that are so impressed by arum lilies
Jose- the sister of Laura and Laurie; Jose, the butterfly, always came down in a silk petticoat and a kimono jacket; loved giving orders to the servants, and they loved obeying her, she always made them feel they were taking part of some drama; sings while Meg plays the piano, practices with Meg incase she has to sing during the afternoon; pacifies the cook and finds out that there are 15 different types of sandwiches; explains to her sister Laura that they should not stop the party
Meg- a sister of Laura, Laurie, and Jose; played the piano with Laura; sang and washed her hair before breakfast and she sat drinking her coffee in a green turban, with a dark wet curl stamped on each cheek
Hans- a servant who was told by Jose to move the tables into the smoking room and to bring a sweeper to take the marks off the carper
Mrs. Scott- was the lady that Laura went over to to deliver the basket of leftovers from the party and the arum lilies; told Laura to come inside the house; had a wretched old kitchen, lighted by a smoky lamp
Em- the sister of Mrs. Scott who was sitting before the fire; face was puffed up, red, with swollen eyes and swollen lips, looked terrible; couldn’t understand why Laura was there
Scott- lived in the little cottages just below the Sheridan household; was a young chap living there, a carter, his horse shied at a traction-engine, corner of Hawke Street this morning, and he was thrown out on the back of his head and was killed; left a wife and five little ones
Plot Overview: The day started off with ideal weather, could not have had a more perfect day for a garden party. It was windless, warm, the sky without a cloud. Only the blue was veiled with a haze of light gold, as it is sometimes in early summer. Breakfast was not yet over before the men had come to put up the marquee (a canopy or a tent without walls). Laura ended up going with the workers with a piece of bread and butter. The four men stood together on the garden path and they looked impressive. Laura tells the workers that she is going to have a small band in the corner of the tennis court against the karakas. The karakas has broad, gleaming leaves, and their clusters of yellow fruit, but were hidden by the marquee. The men shouldered their staves and were making for the place and only the tall fellow was left. He sniffed the smell of lavender and Laura is surprises that he does that. She likes how the men are friendly and nice and wonders why she can’t have friends like that. Laura thinks it’s the fault of the class distinctions. She goes to answer a phone from Kitty. Laura is told by her mother to wear the hat she had last Sunday. The florist arrives with the pots of pink lilies that Mrs. Sheridan ordered and she had thought for once in her life to have enough canna lilies and made the garden party her good excuse. The deliver brings in more lilies and Hans is told to move some tables. Meg, Jose, and Hans move the piano. Jose wants to hear how the piano sounds like so Meg plays the piano and Jose sings “This Life is Weary.” Jose goes to pacify the cook and finds that there are 15 types of sandwiches. Meg is told to go upstairs and take the wet things off her head and Jose is told to finish dressing. Sadie brings in the cream puffs and the cook started to arrange them. Laura wants to see how the men are doing with marquee but the back door was blocked by the cook, Sadie, Godber’s men and Hans. We find out how the guy was killed. Laura tells Jose that she wants to stop the garden party and that there should not be one with a man dead just outside the front gate. Laura begins to have a discussion with her mother about whether the party should go on and her mother says that it was only by accident that they heard of the death. Laura felt it was wrong to have a party and her mom did not really care about the situation. Her mother hands her daughter the hat for her to wear. Lunch had ended at 1:30 and at 2:30, the party was ready to go with the band established in the corner of the tennis-court. Mrs. Sheridan tells her daughter how good she looks in the hat, and that she looked quite Spanish. Laura helped her mother to say the good-byes and describes the party as a success. Mrs. Sheridan comes up with the idea that the leftovers can be made up into a basket. Laura has a basket of food along with lilies and is on her way to Mrs. Scott’s house to deliver it. It is very different from where she is used to and was terribly nervous. She eventually finds the house and is told to come inside the house, which she did not want to do. She meets Mrs. Scott’s sister, Em. Laura wants to leave the basket and the leave the house but cannot at the moment as she was in the house talking to Mrs. Scott and Em. Laura wanted to get out and to get away. The door opened and she walked straight through into the bedroom, where the dead man was lying. She ends up exiting the house and at the corner of the lane, she met Laurie. Laurie says that their mother was anxious and asks if she is crying, and she is. He finally asks Laura, “Was it Awful?” “No sobbed Laura. “It was simply marvelous. But, Laurie—” She stopped, she looked at her brother. “Isn’t life,” she stammered, “Isn’t life— ”But what life was she couldn’t explain. No matter. He quite understood. “Isn’t it darling?” said Laurie.
Character Changes: The main character, as in almost every short story, changes during the course of the story. In the beginning, she is sort of snobby when talking bout whether or not a garden party should be help. She was very uptight about the whole situation. At the end of story, she becomes more of a nicer and enlightened type of character.
Main conflicts: 1. Men vs. themselves
2. Man vs. man
Point of view: 3rd person omniscient- this is the point of view portrayed in the story because the writer is not involved in the story, is telling us the readers everything that goes on, and also because she tells the message.
Message: I think the message that the writer is explaining to us is that even though there may be social class distinctions, everybody is equal. What may seem low quality to some may seem high quality to others (the poor and poverty stricken). This is shown in the story when Laura’s mom decides to make a basket full of leftovers and send it to Mrs. Scott who is living life in poverty. Laura’s mom realizes that someone in need can use the food even though they are leftovers and did not want to be wasted. Everybody should be considered equal no matter what class they belong to whether it’s the upper class like the Sheridan’s, or the lower class like Mrs. Scott’s household or those other cottages.
