Literary Devices In Birthday Party

In the short story “Birthday Party” by Katharine Brush, may literary devices are used to achieve a purpose. Brush uses devices such as imagery, diction, oxymoron, and repetition to convey a birthday surprise gone wrong. In addition to the birthday surprise, Brush also uses these devices to convey feelings. First, the short story begins with a third person point of view. The narrator is sitting on the banquet opposite of a couple and states, “they looked unmistakably married.” The third person’s point of view conveys that they are watching the couple and the diction in unmistakably married conveys that the men and women must be apparently close or affectionate. Furthermore, it describes that their marriage was recognized, it couldn’t be mistaken for something else. In addition to the diction the narrator introduces a shift when they state, “nothing particularly noticeable, until the end of the meal.” This shift introduces the birthday surprise the wife has planned. The use of shift helps demonstrate that the surprise was the main idea of the short story. Last, in

After the man is embarrassed, the narrator states, “Oh, now, don’t be like that,” but he was like that. The repetition conveys that the man was clearly not happy with his surprise and that he wasn’t even going to fake happiness. Additionally, repetition is used at the end when the woman sobs “under the gay big brim of her best hat.” The repetition and change from big hat to best hat indicates that the woman had dressed her best for this joyous occasion, and now she was left to cry under her lovely hat. In conclusion, Brush uses many devices to convey a birthday surprise gone wrong. Her use of third person allows her to comment and add in her thoughts to the scenario. In using many devices, she achieves her purpose in portraying a loving womans surprise for her husband that had been