Arrangement in Black and White by Dorothy Parker

“Arrangement in Black and White” is a short ironic story written by

Dorothy Parker.
Dorothy Parker was an American short story writer, poet, satirist, and
critic. In her style, she used themes of middle-class complacency and unrequited
love. She expressed insightful humor, a sense of sadness, and serious attempts
through satire. Her romantic lyrical ballads are rich with imagery and symbolism.
Critics often described her poetry as sentimental, trivial, and melodramatic because
of its sharp humor. Her successes there, including two Academy Award
nominations, were curtailed when her involvement in left-wing politics resulted in
her being placed on the Hollywood blacklist.
Dismissive of her own talents, she deplored her reputation as a
"wisecracker." Nevertheless, both her literary output and reputation for sharp wit
have endured. Some of her works have been set to music.
Speaking about “Arrangement in Black and White”, we should say that this
is the short story in which a wealthy white woman with the pink velvet poppies,
which is supposed to be the main character, tries to convince the host of a party
that she is free of prejudice and most eager to meet the party’s guest of honour, an
African-American musician.
The story begins with a brief exposition (characters and the backgrounds
are not special here) which introduces the reader to the main character and the
setting. The story is set during a dinner party held in honour of the African-
American musician, somewhere in the United States, in a time contemporary to its
publishing (1927). In the late 1920s US was still biased and divided despite the
fact that slavery had been abolished in 1865. Therefore, segregation was still
practiced on a national scale. The title, “Arrangement in Black and White”, is
symbolic and reflects both the context of the story and its underlying themes. Also
it’s worth to say that the story is presented in dramatic form —  which is
obviously effective —  this evoces the reader’s own thoughts and feelings.
The action is constructed through dialogue and exposes the protagonist’s
attitude towards African-Americans (the dialogue between the protagonist, white
woman, and the host and the musician, who are secondary characters. They do
not say much, but this helps to reveal the woman’s personality). 
In the complications the woman wants to show her host that she is
accepting, progressive and tolerant, and that, unlike her husband or others, she has
no issues with coloured people: “I don’t see why on earth it isn’t perfectly all right
to meet colored people. I haven’t any feeling at all about it not one single bit.
Burton oh, he’s just the other way. Well, you know, he comes from Virginia, and
you know how they are”. Yet, her exaggerated efforts to appear tolerant have the
opposite result and reveal the conflict between what she claims and how she acts
and feels, exposing her racial prejudices: “I have my husband nearly crazy, the
way I go around humming it all the time. Oh, he looks just as black as the ace
of. . . Well. // Is that Katherine Burke? Why, she looks entirely different off the
stage. I thought she was much better-looking. I had no idea she was so terribly
dark. Why, she looks almost like . . . Oh, I think she’s a wonderful actress!”. One
more fact is, that the author uses in her speech the simile (a figure of speech
involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used
to make a description more emphatic or vivid) “they’re just like children”, which
helps us to understand that she doesn’t see in those people any personality. When
talking about her attitude towards African-Americans she wants to emphasize her
open-mindedness — here we can speak about her internal conflict, which doesn’t
reveal till the end. 
But, although she maintains she likes the musician and his art, she seems
unable to see beyond the fact that he is dark-skinned, which she keeps underlining,
and she even states that he should be “grateful” for that party arranged in his
honour, which will offer him the opportunity to meet white people.
The more she talks, the more it becomes obvious that she considers herself
superior to coloured people —  her speech (one of the best means of indirect
characterization). This feature may show the reader that she is a simple
character because she is constructed round a single trait. 
In this story, there is no denouement because we don’t know anything
about the future of the characters: if the woman with the pink velvet poppies
becomes more wide-minded or not — we don’t know. 
The narrator is the observer-author (when the story is a scene or a series
of scenes, narrated by an onlooker who does not interfere for any comments or
reflections of these events. This kind of method stimulates the reader to form their
own impression and make their own judgements).
The message of this story lies in the narrow-minded views that still exist
today in the minds of many individuals. In this way, the woman with the pink
velvet poppies is simply a caricature of people that share her similar views; making
the story's conflict one that the humans of the 21st century continue to battle.
Dorothy Parker uses a dramatic narrative voice to present her "Arrangement in
Black and White." She uses an objective point of view as it creates a sense of
realism; matching the realistic problem that her story exposes.