Literature is art that makes it possible for the author to connect with the readers. At times, short fiction might shed light on the experiences of characters that serve as pivotal moments in their lives, changing the protagonists, their beliefs, and their lives. Among the examples of such stories might be To look out the window, written by Orhan Pamuk, and Garden party, written by Katherine Mansfield. Although the stories illustrate the innocent childhood of the protagonists, they incorporate the theme of illusion opposed to reality, showing the revelation in characters’ lives.
The stories by Mansfield and Pamuk indeed depict the lives of children. In order to accentuate the serenity and carelessness of the setting, the author of To look out the window begins the work by emphasizing the simplicity of the young boy’s life. As the protagonist claims, when he and his brother were children “boredom was something [they] fought off by listening to the radio or looking out the window into neighboring apartments or at people passing in the street below” (Pamuk, n.d., 1402). This establishes the beginning of the work, which further leads to development of the story. Likewise, Mansfield in her work applies a similar approach by avoiding tension and incorporating gradual transition. The author focuses on the serene atmosphere and the beauty of nature, accentuating “windless, warm, the sky without a cloud” with “only the blue was veiled with a haze of light gold, as it is sometimes in early summer” (Mansfield, n.d., p.282). Therefore, the theme was complemented by the illusion of perfection and simple life.
In their works, both of the authors focus not only on the environment, but on the activities of the families. For instance, Orhan Pamuk illustrates how the young boys were taken to see a game with their father and given their favorite chewing gum: “When we got to Aladdin’s shop, my father bought us each ten packs of chewing gum from the Famous People series” (Pamuk, n.d., p.1405). This signifies the relationship with their father and how there were no significant problems in their lives besides the moments when they were taken home before the game ended because it was becoming colder outside. In a similar manner, the life of the Sheridan family was not burdened by any issues and they were preparing for a garden family, with the heroine, Laura, being in charge of the workers. The whole household was busy and even the young girl “blushed and tried to look severe and even a little bit short-sighted as she came up to [workers]” (Mansfield, n.d., p.283). The depictions of these moments and the minutiae of their lives indicate that something might change.
Indeed, the authors did not illustrate the lives of their protagonists for a simple pleasure of observing heroes’ daily lives. With the theme of illusion opposed to reality, the writers wanted to show that not everything is always perfect and sometimes the previous life collapses like a house of cards, with the protagonists experiencing the moment of revelation that changes them forever. For a boy from To look out the window, it was his father leaving his family. As the young man remembers: “From the sounds coming from the hallway I could tell that my father had taken one of the suitcases out of the cupboard there” (Pamuk, n.d., p.1407). Pamuk emphasizes that even the hobby of collecting cards that used to bring joy to the protagonist was not satisfying. After buying three pack of chewing gum, there were new cards, “Fevzi Çakmaks, one Atatürk, and one each of Leonardo da Vinci and Süleyman the Magnificent, Churchill, General Franco, and one more number 21, the Greta Garbo that my brother still didn’t have” (Pamuk, n.d., p.1408). Still, the readers could see that there was no excitement of the hero.
In a similar manner, Mansfield creates the pivotal moment in her story as well. While in the previous story, the plot revolved around the father leaving the family, in this story, the family found a dead body of their neighbor outside the gate. This is when the main character, Laura, was faced with the harsh reality of the superficial upper-class. As the young girl proposed to cancel the party, since they cannot “possibly have a garden-party with a man dead just outside the front gate,” her younger sister insisted that the idea was absurd (Mansfield, n.d., p.290). Similarly, the heroine’s mother’s response did not concern the man or who he was, instead she was worried that he could have died in the garden. To the wealthy part of the town, such a death could “spoil everybody’s enjoyment” if the party was cancelled (Mansfield, n.d., p.291). Therefore, Laura saw the reality of upper-class attitudes to those of more inferior position.
Toward the end, the reader can see the moment of revelation of the protagonists, with the change in their lives and their characters. To Laura it was seeing the body of the men who died in front of their gates. It was as if the heroine faced death herself, seeing the face of the neighbor that was “so remote, so peaceful” (Mansfield, n.d., p.296). Previously, the young girl lived with a sense of illusion, being separated from the reality, where people died and there were those who were underprivileged. Such a revelations did not lead to a strong feeling of understanding life, instead it was acceptance of death and uncertainty whether death was a torturing experience. Even in the end, the girl could not define her feelings, saying to her brother: “Isn’t life,” she stammered, “isn’t life…” (Mansfield, n.d., p.297). Thus, revelation of reality led to a shift in her beliefs.
A revelation was additionally present in the story of Pamuk. The experience that led to such a moment was family issues, resulting in the father leaving the family. In the end, one can see how the young boy looks out the window and thinks to himself: “If only time had stopped” (Pamuk, n.d., p.1415). When coming home from their grandmother’s, the young boys follow their mother. She did not hold their hands this time and the children could hear her crying. Such an experience led the young boy to the sense of obscurity, not knowing whether his life would be the same ever again. This was the moment when the protagonist recognized that his life changed and the future is not clear.
In sum, the protagonists’ idyllic childhood is shown in the stories, but they include the theme of illusion against reality and reveal revelations in the lives of the characters. In the beginning, the authors emphasized the serenity and carelessness of the young protagonists. However, toward the middle of the stories, the reader can see that their perfect lives collapse. For the boy from To look out the window, it was his father leaving the family. To Laura from Garden party it was the dead body found in front of their gate. Toward the end, both characters experience the moment of revelations, when the illusion is broken and they face reality. Such moments are crucial to understand the transition of the characters and their experiences.
References
Pamuk, O. (n.d.). To look out the window.
Mansfield, K. (n.d.). Garden party.