Analysis of Arrangement in Black and White by Dorothy Parker - Book Report/Review Example

The setting is limited to one place, where the party was held and the characters of which are limited as well with the protagonist taking most of the parts in the story. The hour of the day was not explicitly mentioned in the narration of the story but is clearly seen in the conversation between the host and the main character, which is at night. Walter William’s songs described as being ‘spiritual’ convey the characters are of Christian background gathering for a party with the singer being the guest speaker.

This gives a picture of the man being surrounded by admirers, meaning the room was filled with people, which is an important detail to the characterization of the key player in the story. Speaking of characterization, ‘the woman with the pink velvet poppies’ is the protagonist who weaves the story with her chattering about what her husband thinks about colored people and her response to such beliefs. The husband is presented as the antagonist, being close-minded to the idea of meeting and dealing with black people but that would at least be in the eyes of the protagonist.

On another perspective, the antagonist can also be considered her antagonist with her attitude of being cruel to herself, showing what she really is with her insistent gibberish claim of being open-minded in contrast to her reactions. She is a contradiction to herself, stating one thing and then actually feeling a different thing. She could be considered a static character, being the talkative character that she is from the beginning of the story to the end of it. She can also be considered a flat character with racism and sarcasm describing her entire being.