“The Dinner Party” by Mona Gardner - ekmanspartans
“The Dinner Party” by Mona Gardner
The country is India. A colonial official and his wife are giving a large dinner party. They are seated with their guests —army officers, and government attache´s with their wives, and a visiting American naturalist —in their spacious dining room. It has a bare marble floor, open rafters, and wide glass doors opening onto a veranda.*
A spirited discussion springs up between a young girl who insists that women have outgrown the jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse era and a colonel who says that they haven’t.
“A woman’s unfailing reaction in any crisis,” the colonel says, “is to scream. And while a man may feel like it, he has that ounce more of nerve control than a woman has. And that last ounce more is what counts.”
The American does not join in the argument but watches the other guests. As he looks, he sees a strange expression come over the face of the hostess. She is staring straight ahead, her muscles contracting slightly.With a slight gesture, she summons the native boy standing behind her chair and whispers to him. The boy’s eyes widen, and he quickly leaves the room.
Of the guests, none except the American notices this or sees the boy place a bowl of milk on the veranda just outside the open doors.
The American comes to with a start. In India, milk in a bowl means only one thing—bait for a snake. He realizes there must be a cobra in the room. He looks up at the rafters —the likeliest place —but they are bare. Three corners of the room are empty, and in the fourth the servants are waiting to serve the next course. There is only one place left —under the table.
His first impulse is to jump back and warn the others, but he knows the commotion would frighten the cobra into striking. He speaks quickly, the tone of his voice so arresting that it sobers everyone.
“I want to know just what control everyone at this table has. I will count to three hundred — that’s five minutes —and not one of you is to move a muscle. Those who move will forfeit fifty rupees. Ready!”
The twenty people sit like stone images while he counts. He is saying “two hundred and eighty” when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees the cobra emerge and make for the bowl of milk. Screams ring out as he jumps to slam the veranda doors safely shut.
“You were right, Colonel!” the host exclaims. “A man has just shown us an example of perfect control.”
“Just a minute,” the American says, turning to his hostess. “Mrs.Wynnes, how did you know the cobra was in the room?”
A faint smile lights up the woman’s face as she replies. “Because it was lying across my foot.”
*During the time this story takes place, India was a British colony. The colonial official works for the
British government in India. The government attachés work for another country’s embassy in India.
Finally, a naturalist is someone who studies animals and plants.
“The Dinner Party” by Mona Gardner from The Saturday Review of Literature, vol. 25, no. 5, January 31,
1941. Copyright © 1941 by General Media Communications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of The
Saturday Review.
“The Dinner Party” Review Questions Name: Period:
Mona Gardner
_____ 1. The use of third-person point of view in this story makes the reader feel like a —
A. participant
B. relative
C. spectator
D. friend
_____ 2. What is the initiating event for this story?
A. The American’s challenge for the guests to keep still
B. The change in expression on the face of the hostess
C. The Indian boy placing milk on the veranda
D. The guests screaming as the veranda doors close
_____ 3. Which detail about the setting contributes to the plot of the story?
A. The plant life in India is very exotic.
B. India is located in Southern Asia.
C. India is the second-most populous country in the world.
D. Cobras live in India.
_____ 4. What does the author mean by the phrase “jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse” in paragraph 2?
A. An appropriate activity
B. A quick movement
C. A fearful reaction
D. An athletic response
_____ 5. What does the author mean by the phrase “like stone images” in paragraph 9?
A. As large as statues
B. Without moving
C. Appearing to shift
D. Without any life
_____ 6. What is a theme of this story?
A. A calm reaction to a crisis is the best choice.
B. Beware of snakes under the dinner table.
C. Men usually react better in a crisis situation.
D. A large group of guests can be difficult to manage.
_____ 7. Why is the hostess’s reaction to the snake important to the story?
A. The character of the native boy is introduced.
B. It offers proof to end the discussion.
C. She is able to focus on her guests.
D. It reinforces the colonel’s view.
_____ 8. How would the story have been different if it had been told from the hostess’s
point of view?
A. Readers would have been aware of the snake’s location earlier.
B. The story would have been much more dramatic.
C. Readers would not have known why the milk was placed outside.
D. The story would have included a description of the dinner menu.
“The Dinner Party”
Short Answer Questions
1. Respond to this statement: "Men are better in a crisis than women." _____________________________
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2. How would you have solved the "problem" of the cobra? ______________________________________
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3. In what ways did the hostess and the American deal with the conflict presented by the cobra?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
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4. Where does the story take place? _________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Explain the argument that springs up between the colonel and the young woman.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
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6. What action does the American take? ______________________________________________________
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7. What does the hostess reveal at the end? ___________________________________________________
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8. Why does the American have everyone play at sitting still without telling them why?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
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“The Dinner Party” Short Answer Questions, p. 2
9. What is the host assuming when he makes his remark about the colonel's being right?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
10. In what way is the final sentence of the story a response to the colonel's argument? __________________
____________________________________________________________________
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11. How have attitudes toward women changed since the time of this story? _________________________
____________________________________________________________________
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