Coming of age is a prominent theme in Her First Ball by Katherine Mansfield Essay

Coming of come on is a prominent theme in Her runner puffiness by Katherine Mansfield. It is expressed in the plot, wherein an insubstantial young lady attends her first musket glob and is fascinated and thrilled by it all. Her hopes atomic number 18 then let quite a little by an former(a)er gentle human who cruelly reminds her that she will in brief be an old lady with no happiness and excitement left in her life. Mansfield depicts the theme of development up in title, langu progress, literary devices and characterization.The title, Her setoff goon, clearly states the subject of the story while maintaining the implications of growth and ageing. The use of the pronoun, her, instead of the name, Leila, shows how ubiquitous this process- how every woman has had a first ball that is a miles tincture in their journey to adulthood. This reiterates the notion that Leila, resembling everyone else will grow up and will no longer be the ecstatic young girl in awe of everything, whether it be for better or worse. The word first implies youth and the swap that comes with ageing. It suggests legion(predicate) more(prenominal) balls and experiences to come and marks this ensuant as a milestone in her life.Another technique Mansfield uses to express the theme of growing up in the story is the language. The language in Her First Ball is extremely descriptive and ornate. She uses irony in I cant see a angiotensin converting enzyme invisible hairpin. This adds to the humor of the story. This besides suggests the idiocy and stupidity of the youth, lost in the thrilling chaos of the ball. Mansfield also uses elaborate phrases to capture the magnificence of the ball and how Leila feels about it such as the alliterative phrase, gleaming princely floor. The wrangling gleaming and golden both represent an epitome of beauty and splendor that is contrasted with descriptions from Leilas school. The phrase dusty smelling hall- with calico texts on the wall provides a juxtaposition between Leilas past and her present to show beyond doubt the changes in her life as she ages.An additional conniption of language that brings out the significant experience of the ball is the register used in Her First Ball. It is one of informal 18th century British English. Mansfield uses words and phrases such as Twig, Oh, I say and Pardon. This adds to the authenticity of he story and emphasizes the setting and time.The tone used in Her First Ball changes often in the story, which adds to the notion of change and growth. Although, its a third person narrative, it captures Leilas feeling very effectively in the tone. At the start of the story, the tone is one of excitement and anxiety. Leila feels uncertain yet thrilled about how the ball will be and also feels slightly out of emerge being a country girl. She expresses her doubts and the tone is also one of wistfulness and longing to be like everyone else. As the story progresses, the tone becomes more ecstati c and admiring of the ball. The hall, the people and the experience is absolutely thrilling to Leila.This excitement is represent in the tone until she converses with the fat, old man. He reminds her that this is only temporary and this happiness will soon be replaced with a feeling of sadness and longing to be youthful once again. This brings upon a new tone into the story- one of dismay and dread. Leila knows its inevitable and her visions of a life of ecstasy and come crashing down. However, the tone soon changes to one of renewed happiness and everlasting joy. The harmony changes to something better and she loses herself in the dance, forgetting the words of the fat man forgetting him altogether. The frequent changes in tone conceivably represent the changes in life that come with ageing and development.The medicinal drug plays an important part in the story, mirroring the feelings of Leila. with rabbit ears thumping the cold piano is a description of Leilas boarding school dance lessons that were uncomfortable and a drag to her. This contrasts with a flocculent, melting, ravishing tune. The words chosen describe the music as an art or even as a food- soft, melting. This shows the overwhelming joy Leila feels in the fantastic ball. However, after the fat old man reminds Leila of her fate, the music seemed to change it sounded sad, sad. The music that once rose upon a wave now rose upon a sigh. This illustrates the quick changes in mood symptomatic of the youth, the gullibility and naivety as well. Even more so, Leila doesnt even recognize him with the advent of another dance and has forgotten her dreadful encounter, which adds to the notion of the growing up and the mercurial changes in adolescence.Perhaps the most potent techniques to show the theme of ageing are the literary devices used. Mansfield uses an array of similes, metaphors and imagery to capture the scene and Leilas emotions. The metaphor all became one delightful flying wheel expresses Leilas intense happiness and high spirits. The old man, the antagonist, is described with the simile his finish looked as if it was dusty with French chalk. It shows his lack of involvement in the ball and in its customs that comes with age. Another sign of this is when Leilas partners were not more interested and joyful about the ball as she was. This shows the inevitable mellowing down that Leila will, like everybody else, achieve. The author also uses visual imagery at the end of the story to show how the reminder of the inexorable affects Leila. Although she is initially dissatisfied, she soon notices that the stars they had long beams like intimation. This phrase with striking visual imagery marks the end of her presently period of unhappiness and signifies her change in mood to once again being delighted.This leads to an important idea in the story, that adds to the characterization of Leila. The old mans attempt to remind her of her destiny, however cruelly done, is quite true. Leila remembers this for only a short period of time before returning to her admiring self. This shows that the reminder of her future has fallen on deaf ears and that Leila is so intent on having a good time she forgets her worries and perhaps that she simply doesnt consider the advisory anything more than a bitter mans negative opinion. Her lack of heed to her wake up call indicates the naivety of the youth. She is quick to forget unpleasant experiences rather than to learn from them and ignores the prospect of growing up entirely as it upsets her.An important idea in the story is one of symbolism. There are many symbols in the story, Leila being on of youth. She represents the curiosity and happiness of adolescence along with the gullibility and inanity. She lives in the present, which is seen both positively and negatively in the story. Her ability to concentrate on the current happenings result in her extreme joy and thrill from the dancing and fun of the ball but also result in her sadness on meeting the fat man. The ball changes from her heaven to a place where she must face her inexorable cast down fate. However, it is this quality of hers that leads her to forget her bad memory and move on to the pleasures of life, even if they are short lived.The sure-enough(a) man on the other hand, could be a symbol of wisdom. When he first meets her he says Do I remember this bright little face although hes obviously never seen her before. This creates an airwave of eerie knowledge around him. His shabby appearance and the feature that he dances with the youth despite his age sets him apart from the rest of the gentlemen and marks him as different. His age, his correct conjecture that its Leilas first ball and his accurate prediction of her future signifies that he perhaps plays the role of a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. The fact that Leila forgets him suggests her immaturity and her inability to see past the present.Thus, Mansfield perhaps tries t o achieve the notion of the pettiness and fatuity as well as happiness and celebration of the youth in the story and its contents. She uses the plot to describe an incident where Leila is at her most happy and later, probably her least. The ending of the story shows Leilas resilience, or rather, her ignorance. While concentrate on on the theme of coming of age, I feel that Mansfield used the many effective literary techniques and the induction of the story to show that Leila has, essentially, not matured.