Laura's struggle for growth in The Garden Party Through her short story "The Garden Party", Katherine Mansfield depicts the struggle of a young woman through the adolescence and its tumultuous entry into adulthood. Mansfield paints a story of grievance, perplexity, enlightenment, and maturation fostered by the complications of class distinctions. Mansfield's protagonist, Laura, encounters considerable difficulties growing up and must denounce all the childish beliefs of her fanciful world in order to achieve maturity in the real adult world. Like any normal teenager, Laura Sheridan struggles to make sense of her teenage life. . As Don Klein points out, "the central point of the story—and the central dramatic impulse—is the girl's secret struggle to grow up" (124). Struggling with excessive inner turmoil, she attempts to forge a unique identity, distinct from that of her family members. In order to make such a radical transformation, she is first forced to overcome several major obstacles in her life, the most burdensome being her mother. The overbearing presence of Laura's mother and her mother's ideals pose a looming obstacle in Laura's progression toward adulthood. As Laura struggles with maturity, she begins to shed the skin of her childhood and thus begins to transcend the mold created for her by her mother's upbringing. Laura also begins to denounce the cozy and elusive dream world in which her mother stifled her. Mrs. Sheridan intentionally raises her children in this dream world in order to have complete control over their thoughts and actions without their knowledge. She fosters this dream world by letting them believe that they, not her, are actually in control of the situation. Because middle of paper...... the daily struggles of an average teenager, but also, on a more personal level, she also gives insight into her own teenage struggles. Works Cited Davis, Robert Murray. "The Unit of 'The Garden Party.' "Short Story Review 23 (1993): 128-30. Klein, Don W. "'The Garden Party': A Portrait of the Artist." Short Story Review 23. (1993): 123-8. Mansfield, Katherine . "The Garden Party." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. MH Abrams. New York: 2510-20. Taylor, Donald S. A Revival.” Short Story Review 23 (1993): 121-2. Walker, Warren S. “The Unresolved Conflict in “The Garden Party” Short Story Review 23 (1993): 119-21. Daniel A. "Crashing the Garden" Party: Proserpina's Garden Party." Review of a short story 23 (1993): 122-1.