Betty Keller's Short story Tea Party
Betty Keller's Short story Tea Party is an interesting story about two aged sisters Alma and Hester who recall about their experience as they wait for the paper boy. Betty has effectively employed all the literary skills to make the story interesting and to pass out the themes in the story. She has used tone, diction, and plot to depict the two sisters as proper but lonely ladies. Through this skills of symbolism of the window, props and she brings out their emotions when the newspaper delivery boy approaches and goes without talking to them.
Emotional Turmoil and Symbolism
The story is full of emotions, sorrowful emotions for the two sisters which grabs the attention of the reader and makes him or she deeply engaged in the story. The tone of the story is lonely, and the two sisters have outlived their relatives and family, and the only people they interact with are the people who come to perform some services such as delivering the newspaper (Baskin 45).
As they talk of their past, they disagree with the name of the ship that they used as well as the dates when they were young children. In the story, one can experience emotional turmoil, and the paperboy fails to come inside they are sad as they realize that the world has forgotten about them. The paperboy has therefore been used to symbolize the world which is against them. They, however, believe that someone will one day hear their stories as the next bill arrival and the two weeks could belong to wait for him for them to share their feelings. The play shows the world of individuals passed by, and it depicts their denial and eventual awareness of their predicaments (Baskin 45). The powerful message from this symbolism is that the world of the elderly is forgotten, this implies that it is easy to pass over the experienced in life and forget how much we matter to them and the role they play in our lives. It is the reason of isolation of the two sisters who seemed to be living in a deserted place, and they have an urge to have people around who are not available, and this gives them sorrow.
The Window as a Symbol
Betty Keller's Story has also used the Window as one of the devices as symbolism to show the outside world of the two sisters. Through the conversation, Hester could wake up and walk towards the window to ask if her sister would remember their past. This shows that staying indoors has made them miss many things outside the world and they could only get confirmation as they stare outside the window (Lamphie and Rosanne 145). They have been left behind by the outside world, and they are not connected with other people in any way. Their world as elders is forgotten and when they see through the window, they find pleasure and enjoy seeing the outside world. This shows that the two elderly sisters have been isolated from the outside world and it is the reason they hope to find someone to talk to but the available people, such as those who come to collect paper and meter money.
Symbolism of Props
Also, for the story as effectively as possible Betty Keller has also employed the symbolism of the props. The two sisters try to position where the visitor who is the paperboy will visit; this shows that they are trying to create a welcoming world where other people will have a comfortable place to sit and hear their stories (WOODSiDE 78). This shows that their forgotten world made them feel that maybe they are not friendly to the people, and therefore they are disappointed when the paper boy comes and leaves without speaking to them. It depicts the inequality of social classes and the impacts it causes to individuals (Lamphie and Rosanne 145). These people have greater hope on these people and full of trust that one day they will sit with them and they will share their interests, their will is like iron, and it seems it will not bend anytime soon. This can be described where the two elderly sisters have strong hope that through the first man has gone without giving them they will be firm enough to wait for meter man with the hope that he will give them time to hear their stories.
The Vulnerability of the Elderly
This destroys their silver hope of getting someone who will hear their stories. This signifies the forgotten people in a society where they only can access the world around them but are limited from interacting with the outside world (WOODSiDE 78). It implies that such people leave devastating lives full of sorrow and this often is caused by Isolation. Their old age can also be used to symbolize the vulnerability of some people in society, where they are neglected and cannot interact with people who are better than them like the paperboy and the Meter man. This symbolizes that despite the welcoming world vulnerable people can also be isolated just because of the difference in social classes and position ranks. This left a void in the two sister's mind why they are isolated, and they cannot understand the situation but indeed full of hopes that seem to steer them through the forgotten world.
Challenges and Neglect in the Community
The older adults in the community seem to experience a lot of challenges and around being neglected by society and even the authorities. The description of the house as an old house "the room is crowded with the knickknacks gathered by its inhabitants in three-quarters of a century of living" (Lamphie and Rosanne 145). She has used this to show the ancient time that is to emphasize the age of the two sisters as old. Through the description, a reader can get the real picture of the scenery and more so get the real age of the sisters confirmed. The description also shows the poverty existing among the vulnerable in the community; Alma uses a wheelchair which signifies him feeble and flimsy people in society who have been neglected.
Work Cited
Baskin, Ellen, ed. Enser’s Filmed Books and Plays: A List of Books and Plays from which Films have been Made, 1928-2001. Routledge, 2018.
Lamphier, Peg A., and Rosanne Welch, eds. Women in American history: A social, political, and cultural encyclopedia and document Collection [4 volumes]. ABC-CLIO, 2017.
WOODSiDE, MaRTin. "Ernest Thompson Seton (1860–1946)." Shapers of American Childhood: Essays on Visionaries from L. Frank Baum to Dr. Spock to JK Rowling (2018).
