Third-Person Multiple Point of View Narayan’s ‘‘Forty-Five a Month’’ is written in what is known as the third person, a method of storytelling in which the narration is conducted by a person outside the action of the story. The narrator in ‘‘Forty-Five a Month,’’ for example, informs the reader of what Shanta is doing, but…
Forty-Five a Month – Themes
Working Class The family that is the subject of Narayan’s ‘‘Forty-Five a Month’’ is a working-class family. In a working-class family, one or more members of the family earn the money the family needs for basic necessities. Working-class jobs are typically viewed as those that are low-paying, often require long hours, and often involve physical…
Forty-Five a Month – Characters
Kamala Kamala is a young schoolgirl, a friend of Shanta’s. Kamala incorrectly assures Shanta that it is five o’clock in the afternoon. Manager Venkat Rao’s manager is Rao’s direct superior. As long as Rao needs his job to support his family, he is at the mercy of his manager. The manager views work as a…
Forty-Five A Month – Summary
Narayan’s short story ‘‘Forty-Five a Month’’ opens in the classroom of a little girl named Shanta. The child asks her friend whether it is five o’clock yet, explaining that her father has promised to take her to the cinema later that evening. Shanta tells her teacher that she must go home because it is five…
The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield – Analysis
Mansfield’s story ‘‘The Doll’s House’’ is a work that relies on the careful balance of its elements in order to make its unstated points felt. Elements are juxtaposed against each other to highlight their similarities and differences. Mansfield does this tactfully and subtly, so that even a careful reader might not see it until the…
The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield – Setting
New Zealand History This story takes place in Karori, which is on the outskirts of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. At the time the action takes place, New Zealand was in its postcolonial phase. The country colonized relatively late. The first Europeans to arrive were the Dutch, in 1642, but the country remained open…
The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield – Literary Devices – Symbolism
Omniscient Narrator ‘‘The Doll’s House’’ is told from a third-person point of view. The narrator is not a character within the story, one who would speak of herself or himself as ‘‘I’’ or ‘‘me,’’ but is instead an outside observer, reporting on all of the characters as ‘‘he’’ or ‘‘she.’’ Frequently, third-person narrators will limit…
The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield – Themes
Class Conflict The town that is depicted in ‘‘The Doll’s House’’ is clearly one with a range of different social classes, as Mansfield explains in the fourteenth paragraph. This explains why people of different classes are attending the same school. For examples of the different economic levels represented here, she mentions judges and doctors, storekeepers…
The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield – Characters
Aunt Beryl Aunt Beryl is a self-centered woman who imagines herself to be sensitive, even though she is callous about the feelings of others. When the doll’s house is delivered to the Burnell home, it is Aunt Beryl who insists that it should be kept outside because she finds the fumes of its recent paint…
The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield – Summary
‘‘The Doll’s House’’ begins when an elaborate doll’s house is delivered to the home of the Burnell family. It is a gift from Mrs. Hay, who has been staying with them for a while in their house out in the suburbs but has recently returned to the city. The doll’s house is massive, so big…