From the Waves to the Shore: The Deliberate Odds and Ends of Mansfield’s Garden Parties

Abstract

Katherine Mansfield, a New Zealand modernist writer, demonstrates the power of indirect methods to create meaning in many of her short stories. Rather than relying on detailed character backgrounds, Mansfield uses figurative language, silences, and the implications within dialogue to convey emotional depth and insight into her characters. While these techniques are crucial in building the narrative, her use of suspense and the withholding of information until the story’s conclusion also play a key role in her storytelling. Through a close reading of stories such as “Miss Brill,” “The Voyage,” and “The Singing Lesson,” it becomes clear how Mansfield’s revelatory endings—what I refer to as “wave moments”—serve as deliberate shifts in mood that contribute to the meaning-making process. These “wave moments” highlight Mansfield’s non-linear storytelling approach and her careful crafting of stories—defying traditional narrative expectations.