The Ongoing Mistake

The Ongoing Human Mistake
Mahatma Gandhi once said: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world”. This famous quote well represents a theme often evident in literature. Whether the characters in the stories succeed or fail in making a change, the reader is able to infer that the literature is challenging the existing standards. When stories challenge the ‘things as they are’ there are positive changes to the society and in the characters themselves. The short story “Dinner Party” challenges the circumstances at that time, with the hostess of the party trying to prove women inequality wrong. The story “The Lottery” was following the status, however; the consequences of said make it obvious to the reader why change is needed. Lastly, “A Man Who Had No Eyes” was able to prove that by overcoming the accepted standards for the blind Mr.Parsons was able to meet success within him and the readers themselves were endorsing the status quo. 
The “Dinner Party” written by Alona Gardner challenges the status quo of women being treated unfairly and less valued than men. To introduce, a young girl in the story argues with a colonel on the passing of the “jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse era” (Gardner 1). The quote in reality represents how women are in need of the protection of men, thus unjustly treated by them. The young girl’s argument shows she does not believe in this assumption and that change is near. This argument would not be too surprising to see today, however; the story is set in India around the 18th century and going up against a man in this time is uncommon and takes a strong incentive. To further extend on the author’s message, the hostess of the party lays bait with intention to stop an intruding snake, later on, it is revealed that she discovered the snake because she had felt it on her legs. This part of the story is ironic to the arguing colonel since this woman had literally felt the snake and still kept calm. This irony portrays how the...