Essay G
The analysis of the story “Sun and Moon” by Katherine Mansfield
The perception of the world depends on the generation. And the veracity of this statement is undeniable after reading the story “Sun and Moon”, issued from pen of the master of short psychological stories Katherine Mansfield.
Implicitness of the expression is characteristic of Mansfield’s Flash fiction – the implication, the author's intention not to express her opinion and someway even keep away. These features of the story go back to A. P. Chekhov, a student and follower of whom Mansfield is considered to be.
Military events of 1914-1918 forced the writer to look back on her childhood. After the tragic death of her brother and many friends, the destruction of the faith in the world harmony and difficult overcoming the deep depression she wanted to return to the world of her childhood in order to pay homage to her brother and her past and to find inner support for herself and for kindred souls of her contemporaries.
At this stage of life gone forever childhood appeared the "true" life without any vices of maturity. The writer treated her recollections about her childhood as "unattainable happiness", though not everything in this early time of life was serene. Views of Mansfield-child and Mansfield-adult about what was going on at parents’ home differed enormously. Early diary entries of the writer are full of critical remarks about her house, relatives, and the moments in which she felt disjointed from the family. In the letters of Mansfield who became wiser and gained life experience there is a search for the causes of not uncommon parents’ alienation from their children, the dramatic experience of loneliness. The main causes are concern of adults about material well-being of a family, depriving parents of the opportunity to be responsive and attentive, mental apathy and fear of being misunderstood in eagerness to spiritual kinship.
The story under consideration was written in 1918 and I divide it into two levels: it could be considered a classic story written for children. Also it has a symbolic level – some precious things can be damaged or even destroyed by harsh reality.
The main theme of the story “Sun and Moon” may be defined as a insuperable gap between children and adults. The text is written without any set structure and with a lot of shifts in the narrative.
The setting here is of great importance. The story happens inside the house of one rich family. It begins with description of making meticulous preparations for an ostentatious party. Adults, especially parents, are so engrossed in preparations that do not pay attention to children, Sun and Moon, who are hanging about the house. Events are depicted from Sun’s point of view. We look at things through the eyes of a child, sharing his perception of the world.
The title of the story is rather implicit. It focuses the reader’s attention on the names of the main characters. The names of the children represent their role in the story. Sun and Moon reflect parts of the whole which is a typical feature of a modernist writing. Such names are suggestive of the fact that parents gave to them such names because initially the children were the centre of their universe. The Sun and the Moon are unique things. The Earth moves round the Sun, the Moon moves round the Earth. And the children were unique for their parents, but now the situation is completely changed. The parents don’t spend much time with their own children. Now it is the job of servants to look after the children.
It is significant to note that the story is deeply psychological. The plot is of minor importance than the scene reproducing the conversation, thoughts or feelings of the characters. The story-teller resorts both to telling and showing as methods of characterization in the story. Moon is sensual and tactile. When she saw the house and the nut she wanted to touch it and asked permission to put her finger on the roof. Sun is definitely the protagonist; this is the story of Sun. He is probably older than Moon. When Sun saw the nut he felt quite tired. He is impressionable. The children are portrayed by the author by means of various stylistic devices. Nurse compares Moon with a sweet little cherub of a picture of a powder-puff. The simile is accompanied by a repetition “Oh, the ducks! Oh, the lambs! Oh, the sweets! Oh, the pets!” when ladies admire the children, and by a hyperbole when the fat man who came to dinner on Sundays compares Sun with a perfect little ton of bricks. The abundance of stylistic devices makes the narration more vivid and colourful and gives it more authenticity.
The story represents a third person limited point of view (limited to the thoughts of Sun, of course) interlaced with some dialogues and portrayal of the family members by the method of showing. We can see what characters are through their actions and thoughts. The reader can place emphasis on Sun’s feelings concerning the pink house and the nut which are also symbolic of prelapsarian naivety when everything is bliss. The house for Sun represents as a symbol of harmony and space where it can be possible to reunite the family.
Mansfield’s story differs from traditional short story: it has neither dramatic events nor sharp turns of the plot, nor unexpected denouement. On the surface it has a quite simple plot: life is ordinary, people are unremarkable – neither for the significance of feelings, good or bad, nor for unusual fate, nor for any bright characters. Children are watching with delight how adults prepare to receive guests, decorate rooms, lay a festive table. They are full of joyful expectation, but nothing happens - guests go away, leaving the table with dirty dishes and spoiled food. It was the moment of ruined perfection. The children don’t want any more to deal with the adult world and parents sent them off to bed.
At the same time Mansfield quite clearly and specifically shows the inner side of characters’ lives: the writer is talking not so much about what happens to her characters, as about what they feel. She intends to reveal to her readers the inner world of her characters, to show the difficulty, contradictory of feelings, deep psychological conflicts which are hidden out of ordinary life.
Humanistic orientation of the story is obvious. Mansfield claims the need for a clear expression of parents’ love to their children, and then their relationship will be harmonious and sincere. The writer left a last will in which she claimed that there could be only one type of true human relations - absolute sincerity in everything. Her artistic heritage, combining modernist and realist traditions in the depiction of a complicated existence is the life pattern woven from a variety of color, light and musical contrasts. In this diversity subtly presented in a feminine way there is the originality of her art world in which an important place belongs to the children.