Bertha is married to Harry; she keeps telling her self that she is so happy. She runs home and sees her baby. She has a very good family and she waits for the party tonight. She can’t wait till her friends come over. She likes Mrs. Fulton, but her husband seems to not like her. He acts like he doesn’t want her around, and Bertha wants to make him to change his mind because she thinks that Mrs. Fulton is wonderful. Whenever everyone leaves Harry goes to catch taxi for Mrs. Fulton to be polite. And while Bertha is waiting for him to come back, she looks out of the house and sees Harry’s hands on Mrs. Fulton’s shoulders and tells her that he will see her tomorrow. Bertha is getting all upset because she doesn’t know what’s going to happen now.- I liked this story. From the beginning Bertha is a very cheerful character, and it feels unnatural that she is so happy all the time, this detail makes me to suspense that she is trying to make her self to believe that she is very happy. The way Harry acts toward Mrs. Fulton is suspicious also: Why would he be so mean to her? The fact that he tries to hide his feelings about her explains his weird behavior. This story is not for everyone, you have to think of people’s emotions and actions a lot, and make a deep analysis, that’s why some of the people don’t like it.
- Similarities between the stories:
- Chrysanthemums in the story “Chrysanthemums” are the symbols of the lady that planted them, and pear tree is a symbol of Bertha in the “Bliss”.
- Both ladies are fooled by the actions of the men.
- Both of the ladies enjoy nature (Bertha-pear tree, and other lady – chrysanthemums)
- At the end both ladies are trying to hide their hurt feelings, the lady in chrysanthemums doesn’t tell his husband about the other man throwing her flowers away, and Bertha in “Bliss” doesn’t know what to do about what she just saw her husband doing.
- Both of the ladies are married =)
- The pear tree – is the Bertha’s symbol. Bertha sees “at the far end, against the wall, there was a tall, slender pear tree in fullest, richest bloom; it stood perfect, as though becalmed against the jade-green sky. Bertha couldn't help feeling, even from this distance, that it had not a single bud or a faded petal.” It symbolizes Bertha’s personality; she is all blooming and happy.
- She says, “I am too happy, too happy!” She is too positive, doesn’t expect anything bad to be happening in her life; doesn’t want to see it. And the more ironic thing is that at the end she finds out that everything is not as good, and she really is miserable in her “perfect” life. Her husband cheats on her, unpredictably, unexpectedly.
- At the end Bertha finds out that Harry cheats on her, and she tries to stay calm and doesn’t show her hurt feelings to anybody, she lets the guests to leave and while Harry is closing shop she looks at the pear tree which was “as lovely as ever and as full of flower and as still.” This means that no matter what happens she (Bertha) is always going to be lovely and wonderful. There may be many problems, but you can always overcome them, even if they don’t turn out right, and move on in search of better life.
6 Comment(s).
Bravenet Blog 
Blog Community
Get a Free Blog
Manage your Blog
bravenet.com