The Dinner Party By Mona Gardner Analysis

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How would you react if there was a snake under your dinner table? In “The Dinner Party” by Mona Gardner the author uses the characters in the story to answer this question through the message that in a crisis anybody can stay calm and act logically. The characters the author uses to do this is Mrs. Wynnes the hostess, an American naturalist, and all of the guests at the dinner party. First, Mrs. Wynnes had a cobra crawl on her foot and she stayed calm. In paragraph four it says “As he looks, he sees a strange expression come over the face of the hostess.” This shows that her first reaction was not to scream but to stay still and calm. Also, in paragraph four it says “With a slight gesture she summons the native boy standing behind her chair and whispers to him.” This shows that even though there was a snake crawling on her foot that she was still calm enough to ask the boy for help. Last it says “She is staring straight ahead, her muscles contracting slightly. This shows that Mrs. Wynnes was able to stay calm during the In paragraph 9 it says “The twenty people sit like stone images while he counts.” This shows that both men and women were sitting at the table and all of them were able to stay calm. This also shows that none of the guests knew what was going on and they still stayed calm. Therefore anyone can stay calm in a scary situation. Both men and women can stay calm in frightening situations. In “The Dinner Party” by Mona Gardner the author uses the characters in the story to express the message that anybody can stay calm and logical in a crisis. In the story the hostess Mrs. Wynnes was able to stay calm when she realized there was a snake crawling on her foot, the American naturalist was also able to stay calm when he realized that there was a snake crawling under the table, and all of the guests were able to stay calm and still when the naturalist gave them a

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