Birthday Party Essay

333 Words2 Pages
The Birthday Party The Essay is on Katherine Brush ‘The Birthday Party’. It is a short story which deals with a surprise birthday party arranged by a wife for her husband. The story is set in a restaurant, where the wife arranges a nice surprise, a birthday cake and some music on her husband’s birthday. The husband is very annoyed at his wife and he behaves rudely with his wife. According to me, the wife is much more responsible than her husband for the crisis. The author mentions in the story that they look distinctively married. If they have been married for a long time, then the wife should know her husband very well. She must also know that her husband gets annoyed very quickly and is very vocal. To spare herself unnecessary misery, she can avoid doing things which can result in an uncomfortable situation. In the story, the wife and the husband had different expectation from that evening. We understand that the husband is a private sort of person and wanted to share his birthday exclusively with his wife. On the other hand, the wife wanted a public celebration. We as a reader, feel pity for the wife because of her husband’s rude behaviour. However, the author is biased in her reaction in the sense that she has great sympathy for the wife but has nothing to say in favour of the husband. In any successful marriage, wife is the closest person to her husband. It is her duty to understand and respect his wishes. The occasion is her husband’s birthday (not her birthday) and I think it should be celebrated according to his expectations. So the wife in the story, for the most part is responsible for the crisis. Understanding is very much required in any marriage. If the wife had been more considerate about her husband, the crisis would not have occurred. She should have realized that her husband would prefer a more personal
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