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Katherine Brush's The Birthday Party

147 Words1 Pages
In the short story “Birthday Party,” by Katherine Brush, it is seen that the husband does not return his wife’s strong feelings towards him. Through characterization, Brush portrays the wife as the one who cares more about their relationship rather than the husband. The woman’s caring gestures that expressed her love for her husband was ruined when he was not pleased with her. After the waitress had brought the birthday cake, prepared by his wife for her husband, the man said “some punishing thing” to his wife, which caused her to cry “heartbrokenly and hopelessly.” The “punishing” thing the man had said to his wife must have been harsh as it made her cry “heartbrokenly and hopelessly.” Despite being a married couple, it is obvious that the
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She rather found herself angry at imaginary people who might try to criticize” (Hurston 125). Unlike with previous marriages, she actually worried about Tea Cake and would be willing to protect him. The happy feelings that Tea Cake had given Janie are told after his death. When Janie is thinking of Tea Cake, the book explains that “The kiss of his memory made pictures of love and light against the wall. Here was peace” (Hurston 193).

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