I believe that Parker was using the Waltz as a metaphor for marriage. The narrator had no choice but to accept the offer to dance with the man, as women in that time had to accept an offer of marriage, unless she wanted to be seen in a negative way by society. The narrator says "Ah, now why did he have to come around to me, with his low requests? Why can't he let me lead my own life?"(491). This could be Parker's way of wondering why women could not live out their own lives without a husband. Why were they basically forced to take a husband they didn't want, just because that is what was expected?
To allow the characters to stop waltzing would have, going with this metaphor, been the equivalent of a woman choosing to leave a marriage simply because she didn't really like her husband. Near the end of the story, the narrator says "And the music will never stop playing, and we're going on like this... for eternity."(493). This quote could be taken in two ways. It could simply be the narrator imagining her future as a wife. It could also be a message from Parker to women. She could be interpreted as saying 'These societal beliefs are going to go on forever.' Maybe it is a warning to women that they need to vocalize the internal thoughts rather than keeping quiet and being made unhappy.
Question 2 (Harper)
While reading Harper's The Two Offers, it is never clear what race the characters are, nor does it seem important. Harper seems to be writing to all women as a whole, not a single race. She sees the importance women be allowed to choose to not marry if that is what they want. By having Janette, the woman who never married, who supported herself, come out in the end as the happier of the two women, Harper demonstrates that marriage does not always come hand in hand with happiness.
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