When a wife surprises her husband on his birthday, an ironic turn of events occurs. “The Birthday Party” by Katherine Brush is a short story about relationships, told from the point of view of a close observer. Brush uses the words and actions of the married couple to assert that a relationship based on selfishness is weak. Immediately, the narrator stereotypes the couple by saying that they "seemed unmistakably married" (1). The couple symbolizes a relationship. Since marriage is the deepest human relationship, Brush chose a married couple to underline his message and strengthen the story. The husband's words weaken their relationship. When the man rejects his wife's gift with “punitive…fast, abrupt, and rude” words (19), he is being selfish. Selfishness is a matter of taking, just as love is a matter of giving. It took her emotional energy and she was left "crying silently and heartbroken" (21). By using unkind words, the husband drains his wife of emotional strength and damages their relationship. The husband was also selfish in his actions. With good intentions, his wife had prepared a surprise for him, but he was not happy. “Instead, he was very embarrassed and indignant at his wife for embarrassing him” (13). When the narrator describes her husband at the beginning, he has a “satisfied face” (3). Embarrassment is the result of feeling self-conscious. Due to his awkward nature, he first considers how the few people in the restaurant will view him due to his wife's actions. He doesn't prioritize appreciating his wife's commitment and care, but rather sees the worst in his wrong actions. The husband's selfishness makes him proud, which in turn leads him to destroy the relationship with his wife through his actions. In a subtle way, Brush also makes his wife's actions selfish. Even though her husband was wrong to react that way, she was also selfish in her actions. Evidently the husband has a shy character because "he was very embarrassed" (13) in front of "the few people who were in the restaurant" (11). Using a couple of this age ("late thirties" (1)), Brush states that the wife should have known her husband's preferences and been sensitive to them. The author also uses seemingly opposing descriptions of the couple: "There was nothing noticeable about them" (5) and the woman's "big hat" (4). The large hat reveals the wife's desire to be noticed.