What is the theme of death in the garden party?

A minor theme in comparison to life, death is the catalyst by which change occurs in a number of key stories within the overall work. Mr. Scott’s death in "The Garden Party" awakens in Laura Sheridan, the main character, a dislike of her family’s elitism. Ma Parker in "Life of Ma Parker" suffers the loss of her favorite grandson, Lennie, and yearns to grieve for all of the tragedies she has endured in her difficult life. The death of their father in "Daughters of the Late Colonel" forces Josephine and Constantia Pinner to revaluate their circumstances and to embrace their new found freedom but they find that even in death their father’s opinions still hold them captive. Yet his death has set in motion changes they so desperately desire, as does the death of Fenlla’s mother in "The Voyage."