The “House of Boxes” symbolise the close-minded nature of the colonial The gate Pearl Button is swinging on at the
n at the beginning of the story
English settlers that live in them. They are living in New Zealand but are
still holding onto restrictive, English values and looking to England as
home. They are not thinking “outside of the box” or embracing the new
land of New Zealand or Maori culture. Instead they are stuck in their old
ways, pushing their own culture and values onto Maori and spreading
their known ways of life, instead of embracing or even trying to embrace
something new – Maori Language was banned in schools etc. Maori seen
as “savage” and “inferior” whereas Mansfield shows them in a free,
warm, sympathetic light. Showing Pakeha and the English settlers that
live in these houses as cold, harsh, rigid and unloving.
The metaphorical boxes Pearl lives in also symbolise the way Pearl (and
Katherine Mansfield) felt growing up in these houses full of restriction
(gender roles), routine, lack of freedom and entrapment. (Women stuck
serving their husbands and doing chores at home etc. Girls not educated
except for learning to sew, cook, clean etc.)
The sea symbolises something unknown to Pearl. She has never seen it
before, like how New Zealand and Maori culture is unknown to her away
from the English values in the “House of Boxes.”
Pearl’s reactions and interactions with the sea in the story are symbolic.
Pearl’s first reaction to the sea symbolises fear of the unknown. “Pearl
held back when the sand grew wet.” Pearl is initially scared of the sea as
it is something unknown to her and something she has never
experienced before. This is like how European settlers were treating
New Zealand; they were fearful of letting go of what they have always
known, their English values and lifestyle. New Zealand was something
new and unknown to them. Instead of embracing New Zealand and
Maori culture, they were scared of change and continued to live the
same way they did in England and try to recreate this lifestyle and values
in NZ.
Pearl’s reaction to the sea, once she builds up the courage to go in it,
symbolises embracing change and it not being so bad once you take
those first steps. “Suddenly, over her feet broke a little line of foam.
“Oo, oo” she shrieked. “Lovely, lovely.” Pearl playing in the water also
symbolises an awakening and the “tides of change.” It symbolises a type
of baptism for Pearl into her new land. She was born in NZ to English
parents, so NZ is her home, yet she has never actually experienced NZ
until now. She has finally embraced her NZ away from her restrictive
upbringing.
This represents the idea that change can be scary at first, but it takes
someone to make the leap and experience it to create change. Through
Pearl’s actions here, the reader also experiences a new way of seeing NZ
and Maori culture (especially the English colonial settler readers of the
time). The reader is forced to take the leap and see Maori culture and NZ
in a different way, away from bias. This experience in the sea is an
awakening for both Pearl and the reader.
The Police are again a symbol of the restricted nature of colonial life.
They come to take Pearl back to her old, restricted, routine way of
living.
Pearl’s negative reaction to the police, “Suddenly the girl gave a
frightful scream,” symbolises her new embracement of NZ and Maori
culture, and her fear of going back to her old way of life.
symbolises a liminal space. A liminal space is a place of waiting
and not knowing. It is a place of transition between old and new.
Behind the gate Pearl is swinging on is her life in “The House of
Boxes” - her old English values/ life (the only way of living she
has ever known). In front of the gate is the unknown – her new
land of NZ and new culture that she has not explored yet.
Will Pearl swing back to the life she has always known and
continue staying close minded and stuck looking to England as
home, or will she swing out and embrace her new unknown
land.
Pearl swinging off the gate and going with the two “dark
women” symbolises a transition towards change. This change
involves Pearl, and the reader, seeing Maori culture and New
Zealand in a different way.
The removal of Pearl’s clothing in the story is symbolic
of freedom. The clothes Pearl wears are very symbolic
of her English values and culture that she has been
raised in. “They took off her shoes and stockings, her
pinafore and dress.” “They took off her hair ribbon and
shook her curls loose.” By having these items removed,
she is freed from the colonial restrictions and English
values and life she has been raised in. When these
“values” have been removed, she is free to explore a
new land and new culture that she has not experienced
before. Mansfield suggests, through this symbol, that
we free ourselves from the values and restrictions
imposed on us to be able to see and experience
something new.
Pearl Button’s character symbolises the potential for change. Her
innocence and lack of bias towards New Zealand and Maori culture is
what allows her to explore new things with an open mind. Her being
open to, and enjoying Maori culture, symbolises the potential for a
new generation of change. Her parents have not been able to let go
of their old ways of living and English values, but Pearl, a girl born in
NZ to English values, can. She shows hope that there is potential to
change if you stop being fearful of things unknown and new in life.
Pearl Button’s name is also symbolic. Like a cultured pearl, she has
been moulded and cultivated to be an image of English ideals and
values. Her polite manners, “she carefully pulled up her pinafore and
dress and sat on her petticoat the way she had been taught to sit in
dusty places,” and clothing all show how she has been raised with
restrictive English values. Yet pearls are also creamy white,
symbolising her purity and innocence. It is this innocence that allows
her to look beyond these values she has been raised in and be open
minded to new things.