The Japanese Quince Essay, Research Paper

A.P. English The Japanese Quince In The Japanese Quince written by John Galsworthy, the actions of Mr. Nilson, a well-known and wealthy businessman, comprise the plot. The story fundamentally describes Mr. Nilson s stroll through Square Gardens, which leads to a realization that he lacks spontaneity, which in turn has prevented him from appreciating nature, so when he does see the beauty in nature, he gets fascinated by it. Developments in the plot are Mr. Nilson s feeling of emptiness, his infatuation with the Japanese Quince, and the encounter with Mr. Tandram.Mr. Nilson s ailment initially starts out as benign and described as a peculiar sweetish sensation in the back of his throat, and a feeling of emptiness just under his fifth rib. However, this sensation was intense enough to have Mr. Nilson deviate from his daily routine. This feeling of emptiness increases and soon is more vaguely described as a queer feeling and a faint aching just above his heart. Mr. Nilson tries to explain what is causing this, but ends up with nothing. When Mr. Nilson says, and here I am the only person in the Square who has the-to come out and-, this signifies his feeling of emptiness is even evident in his remark. He was trying to say that he couldn t believe that he s the only one who has the desire to come out and look at nature. The reader, can perceive what the cause of it is when there are dashes in place of words. He can t spit these words out because he has never experienced the beauty of nature. The Japanese Quince fascinates Mr. Nilson; it [is] so alive and pretty. The tree with its pink and white blossoms serves an ornamental purpose, since it doesn t do anything so useful as bear fruit. This is a contrast to Mr. Nilson s mechanical life, along with his cuckoo clock. Mr. Nilson s life is being a businessman, while the cuckoo clock s life is to pop out and sing every hour on the hour to make people aware of the time. Both of these jobs are very mechanical in that Mr. Nilson follows a set schedule everyday and does not diverge from it, while the cuckoo clock pops out every hour on the hour day after day. It s Mr. Nilson s life in general that is making him lack spontaneity. The cuckoo clock also is a contrast to the blackbird that is alive and real. The blackbird produces sweet and melodious songs, while the cuckoo clock produces the same monotonous song every hour on the hour. When Mr. Nilson sees the Japanese Quince, he is dazzled by it because due to his busy life with work, he doesn t have time to be fascinated with nature.

Mr. Nilson s encounter with Mr. Tandram is the final development in the plot. Mr. Nilson strikes up a little conversation with Mr. Tandram, which entails only scientific details about the tree. We see that since Mr. Nilson cannot describe the beauty of nature in abstract words, but instead he must rely on facts to describe the tree. He is always thinking about business and involving himself with facts, just like when he was meditating on the price of Tintos. When Mr. Nilson sees a carbon copy of himself in Mr. Tandram, he thinks to himself, how foolish he must ve looked staring and smiling at the tree, and Mr. Nilson fears this because it is something unknown and a new experience for him. The reader of The Japanese Quince should realize that the feeling of emptiness, is caused by missing spontaneity. At the end when Mr. Nilson hears the sound of a cough from Mr. Tandram, he gets upset, but doesn t know why. This is probably because Mr. Nilson enjoyed his stroll through the park. However now he is reluctantly forced to go back to the mechanical life of a businessman.