Materialism in The Japanese Quince by John Galsworthy

Essay, Pages 5 (1207 words)

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In addition to the previous element, characters are successful to a great extent, in making, the readers understand the theme of the story. Both Mr. Nilson and Mr. Tandram look the same; they reflect each other. Both of them are businessmen who face worrisome difficulties in communicating in their social life even though they are considered healthy and successful businessmen, They are in a highly-ranked position in their district, and both are deeply
concerned with money and the price of Tintos; both have the same appearance with their well colored cheeks, with their neat brown mustaches, and their round, well opened, clear gray eyes.

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They always wear a black frock coat, holding their newspapers. All these details and descriptions of the two characters make us believe that they belong to the upper class and show what kind of personalities they possess. Both Mr. Nilson and Mr. Tandram experience feeling of loneliness, and they both don’t know how to get along with each other.

As a result, both characters represent businessmen's life that is only concerned with money and time regardless of the social life.

.... and here I am the only person in the square who has the- to come and ... !” Itis in that moment that he realized that his neighbor, Mr. Tandram, is also with him in the square which made Mr. Nilson realize that he and Mr. Tandram are alike. This raises an internal conflict between Mr. Nilson and himself because he does not want to be anything like Mr. Tandram, On the other hand, it also raises an external conflict between Mr. Nilson and Mr. ‘Tandram which is illustrated by Mr. Nilson’s feeling of wanting to stop doing the same things that Mr. Tandram is doing. Another external that we have is a conflict.

In addition to the previous element, characters are successful to a great extent, in making, the readers understand the theme of the story. Both Mr. Nilson and Mr. Tandram look the same; they reflect each other. Both of them are businessmen who face worrisome difficulties in communicating in their social life even though they are considered healthy and successful businessmen, They are in a highly-ranked position in their district, and both are deeply concerned with money and the price of Tintos; both have the same appearance with their well colored cheeks, with their neat brown mustaches, and their round, well opened, clear gray eyes.

Mr. Nilson's status that is being busy in the material life has made him an isolated man which reflected in a certain way on his thoughts as Galsworthy demonstrated in the story. Despite the fact that "The Japanese Quince” contains little action, it dramatizes some significant conflicts. Firstly, Mr. Nilson thought that he is unique, but then he realized that he is not unique as Galsworthy demonstrated: “Morning like this!..... and here I am the only person in the square who has the- to come and ... !” Itis in that moment that he realized that his neighbor, Mr. Tandram, is also with him in the square which made Mr. Nilson realize that he and Mr. Tandram are alike. This raises an internal conflict between Mr. Nilson and himself because he does not want to be anything like Mr. Tandram, On the other hand, it also raises an external conflict between Mr. Nilson and Mr. ‘Tandram which is illustrated by Mr. Nilson’s feeling of wanting to stop doing the same things that Mr. Tandram is doing. Another external that we have is a conflict between human and nature as it is shown in the story with Mr. Nilson and the Japanese quince twee that attracts him and his neighbor and brought them together to the same place which is exactly what Mr. Nilson did not want to happen.

Symbolism, too, plays an effective role in showing the main theme of “The Japanese Quince.” First of all, The Japanese Quince itself, asa tree, with its pretty and colorful blossoms reflects in different ways the life of Mr. Nilson and Mr, Tandram, For example, although the Japanese Quince has pretty and colorful blossoms, these blossoms are fruitless just like Mr. Nilson and Mr, Tandram’s who appear pretty, healthy, and happy, but actually their lives are
fruitless, Furthermore, the Japanese Quince refers to isolation as itis isolated from its country, Japan. The same applies to Mr. Nilson and Mr. Tandram who isolate themselves from their oven country, Also, the Japanese Quince symbolizes the opportunity to change that the meeting between the two characters in front of the Japanese Quince provides them with a chance to break the wall of emptiness and isolation in which they are suffering and make them start a new social life, Thus the Japanese Quince as a symbol represents both the life of Mr. Nilson and MrTandram’s and the opportunity they have to change and start a new social life.

Another natural symbol that plays an essential role in the story is the Black Bird. It is shown by Galsworthy as a symbol that the matristic people such as Mr; Nilson and Tandram could also be interesting, attracting and social, The black bird was “close by burst{ing] into [a] song;” its happily singing on the tree made the view more cheerful, pleasant and worth watching, The bird shows Mr. Nilson and Tandram that when they interact with beautiful things and stop isolating themselves from the enjoyable things in life such as meeting people, they can have a pleasant life, The singing bird symbolizes the social person Mr. Nilson and Tandram could be, if they became more involved in an eventual life rather than the life they had been living till now. They will have an active social life, and it means more than just collecting money. The bird shows both Mr. Nilson and Tandram how happy they could be that they will “burst into [a] song,”

To conclude, in “The Japanese Quince,” Galsworthy creates a well developed theme about the impact of materialism on businessmen’s social life by the following literary elements setting, characters, conflicts and symbols. It also conveys the message that, being a successful business rman with high status doesn’t mean that one should isolate himself from social life hecause the entire world is waiting outside the window to leave one’s own effective imprints on it.