Life of Ma Parker
Encyclopedia
Life of Ma Parker is a 1921 short story by Katherine Mansfield
. It was first published in the The Nation and Atheneum
on 26 February 1921, and later reprinted in The Garden Party and Other Stories.
; her husband's death; her grandson's death. After cleaning the gentleman's house, she wishes she had somewhere she could go and cry, but as it starts raining she realises she cannot even do that outside - and Ethel is at home, thus preventing her from doing it there too.
Katherine Mansfield
Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp Murry was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield left for Great Britain in 1908 where she encountered Modernist writers such as D.H. Lawrence and...
. It was first published in the The Nation and Atheneum
The Nation and Atheneum
The Nation and Atheneum or simply The Nation was a United Kingdom political weekly newspaper with a Liberal / Labour viewpoint. It was formed in 1921 from the merger of the Athenaeum, a literary magazine published in London since 1828 and the smaller and newer Nation.The enterprise was purchased...
on 26 February 1921, and later reprinted in The Garden Party and Other Stories.
Plot summary
The gentleman opens his door to his charwoman, who tells her that her grandson has died. Through an analepsis, the grandson asks his grandmother for money, which she says she does not have. She then thinks back to her move to LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
; her husband's death; her grandson's death. After cleaning the gentleman's house, she wishes she had somewhere she could go and cry, but as it starts raining she realises she cannot even do that outside - and Ethel is at home, thus preventing her from doing it there too.
Characters
- the young literary gentleman
- Ma Parker, his charwoman. She was born in Stratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
. - Mr Parker, a baker, Ma Parker's deceased husband.
- Maudie, a daughter of Ma Parker's.
- Alice, a daughter of Ma Parker's.
- two other sons of Ma Parker's.
- Jim, a son of Ma Parker's, who went to IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in the army. - Ethel, a daughter of Ma Parker's, who married a waiter and had Lennie before her husband died.
- Lennie, Ma Parker's grandson, who has just died.
Major themes
- class-consciousness : the gentleman believes Ma Parker only cared about the funeral, and is not upset about the untimely death itself. The difficulty of her job and of her life is also emphasised many times.