Symbolism in The Japanese Quince
Although there is very little exterior action in John Galsworthy's very short, short story, "The Japanese Quince," the perceptive reader knows that an opportunity has been passed by, and that the protagonist has chosen to stay closed to the beauty of life rather than risk change. Some readers may not understand this "action," that consists entirely of not choosing and not responding; indeed, the protagonist himself is "unaccountably upset" at the end of the story, completely unaware of the choice he has made. Yet the author has, through subtle symbolism, made it clear to his readers. Galsworthy's use of symbolism, especially the technique of the double or mirror image, functions to define the restrictive lifestyle of Mr. Nilson, to illuminate the exciting potentiality of a new life, and to explain Mr. Nilson's retreat from rebirth.Galsworthy carefully builds the impression that Mr. Nilson's life is an empty, rigid, sterile conformity, all of which is summarized by his name. Nilson, literally "the son of nothing," may have wealth (he has a dressing room and, presumably, a servant to lay out his morning paper on the sideboard) and reputation (he is "well known in the City"), but through his name Galsworthy signals that these are
However, through nature symbolism Galsworthy introduces the possibility that Mr. Nilson can escape his rigid routine and claim a fresh, spontaneous new life. It is spring fever that poor Mr. Nilson cannot recognize in himself when he is surprised to feel a "queer sensation," which he quickly locates "under his fifth rib" in an attempt to gain control of it. This sensation is both a judgment on Nilson's life (it is a "feeling of emptiness" and a "faint aching just above his heart") and an exciting potentiality (it is described twice as "sweet," and then connected to the "sweet lemony scent" of the Japanese quince). But this very similarity between the two men leads to Mr. Nilson's judgment of his neighbor and is what keeps him from breaking out of his sterile lifestyle, mirrored in his symbolic relationship to his double. Since Mr. Nilson wants to be unique in his appreciation of the beauty of the little tree, he is "rather taken aback" when he sees his neighbor respond as he had. Galsworthy has explicitly doubled a long list of descriptive features of the two men so that the reader cannot miss the fact that the two men are mirror images of each other. About the same height, they both have "firm, well-colored cheeks, neat brown mustaches, and round, wellopened clear grey eyes," as
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 869
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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