Mansfield short story analysis and themes

Katherine Mansfield

In many of the stories of Katherine Mansfield, many of her characters do what people do every day by trying to avoid the unpleasant realities of human existence. How well they do differs from one case to the next, and often it is simply the struggle to overcome these realities that gives these characters a sense of accomplishment and a degree of hope.

For instance, in the story "Something Childish but Very Natural," the title comes from a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a poem that Henry, the young man who is the central figure in the story, reads and takes to heart. The story takes place as Henry arrives at the train station for a business trip, and it is there that he sees the poem and begins to think about its meaning. He has to rush to catch the train, and as he does so, he leaves his portfolio behind. Henry is nineteen years old and works in an architect's office. His life seems to be on track, and it becomes even more so when he meets Edna on the train. They talk together and then agree to meet later. They do so, attend a concert, and walk together through the streets of London. The love that develops between them cannot be considered heated, and indeed Edna seems somewhat distant as they walk the streets together. Still, the two do find a house and decide to rent it together.

Henry is described from the first as "a great fellow for books" (3), and the appeal of Coleridge to him fits with this characterization. The poem is a love poem in keeping with the love that develops between Henry and Edna so that he can be seen as living the underlying intent of the poem. However, the poem also suggests that love can be fleeting and that ultimately the individual, lover or not, is alone and dreaming. The poem also implies a certain suddenness to the events of life, and Henry's reality displays this as well. He rushes off to catch the train, meets Edna purely by chance, finds the house they want to rent by chance, and loses his portfolio by chance. Henry adapts to the unpleasant things of life by retreating into a dreamlike existence, sometimes in the form of the literature he reads, sometimes by simply ignoring even the possibility of the unpleasant as he spins a vision of life with Edna in his mind.

The ending of the story is ambiguous at best, suggesting that the dream may have a dark side without identifying what that might be and how it will impact Henry. A girl delivers a telegram to him in the garden and then leaves. The telegram is, in fact, a blank sheet of paper. The meaning can be whatever is read into that page, so it is assumed that Henry is the one to create the message delivered to him. He has been sitting and envisioning a romantic future, and maybe that future is false and Edna is not coming. The implication is that the romantic vision is not realistic in any case, though whether the girl and the telegram are also part of Henry's dream is not clear.

In the story "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill is the central point-of-view for the reader. As soon as she discovers the truth of her weekly visits to the park, that the day is like a play and that she is herself a participant, the day is spoiled by the sarcasm of the young couple who laugh at her fur. The crying she hears from inside the box is really from within herself.

Here, then, is another character who lives in a form of illusion and who appears better off when the illusion is unbroken. The walk she takes through the park is one she takes all the time -- "There were a number of people out this afternoon, far more than last Sunday" (309). She also finds the band to be louder and gayer because the Season has started. For Miss Brill, watching the crowd is always the order of the day. She demonstrates herself to be part of the human race by watching others rather than by interacting with others: "Oh, how fascinating it was! How she enjoyed it!" (312).

Indeed, she sees the world as if it were a play, and she sees herself as part of the play, with her own part to follow. For Miss Brill, the knowledge that she is part of the play is comforting and connects her to the others in the park, giving her and them a shared awareness that she still does not quite understand. The way the two she sees as the hero and the heroine talk about her, though, shatters her comfortable existence and brings back the unpleasantness she has only been able to stave off for a time.

In Mansfield's story "Je ne parle pas francais," which means "I do not speak French," Raoul Duquette is the central character and also the narrator. His word is suspect, and the author treats her spokesperson here in an ironic manner. He starts by claiming he is a true Parisian, though the title alone suggests that this is false. To Raoul, he is authentic because he is a gigolo and a poseur. He also serves as the embodiment of the Romantic perception of the artist, a dilettante who sits in a cafe and wiles away the day in idleness, presumably while creating his masterpiece in his mind. The books he has written, though, suggest that his talent is largely fiction, books called Wrong Doors, False Coins, and Left Umbrellas. The reader is privy to Raoul's thoughts about himself and his reactions to others, and he shows a degree of confusion about who he really is and what he means to other people.

Raoul staves off the unpleasant with his own particular illusions about himself and his work, and his interactions with Dick and Mouse show how is illusions sustain him while Dick sings and Mouse cries. Raoul also cries, but he does so when under the influence and when seeking to show an affinity for Dick and for the song Dick is signing, while Mouse is in real despair about her life and the unpleasantness she faces. For Raoul, none of this persists as he returns to his habit of going to cafes and continuing his pretensions.

In "The Fly," old Mr. Woodfield tries to avoid the unpleasant realities of human existence by keeping to his routine, established over a lifetime. He continues to visit his old office once a week even though he is retired. Mr. Woodfield's life has become very unpleasant since he has had a stroke, and in truth, visiting the office often makes him feel even more how he has lost his strength and his health when compared to his old boss, still healthy and plump and working. The boss also has his routine for keeping away the unpleasant things of life. He has a picture of his son in his office but is quite upset at talking about the boy, who died and is buried in Belgium, a victim of the Great War. Mr. Woodfield's son is buried in the same cemetery, and both graves were visited by his daughters, which is what he wants to tell his old boss.