Julian Barnes’s short story “Melon” has many political implications. It is the tale of an English nobleman’s encounters with French culture at three distinct times in his life, giving readers his view of that country before, during, and after what is arguably the most significant event of the country’s history, the revolution that transformed it…
Tag: Julian Barnes
Melon by Julian Barnes – Setting
The Reign of Louis XVI The first part of this story takes place around the year 1774, or roughly the time when Louis XVI ascended to the throne. For more than a century before Louis XVI’s reign, France had suffered under the rule of the self-indulgent monarchy. Wars and poor management of the country’s wealth…
Melon by Julian Barnes – Literary Devices
Symbolism Barnes conveys the significance of the story through the use of symbols. One of the most obvious symbols is the game of cricket. To Sir Hamilton, cricket represents a community of rich and poor, brought together by individual skills. Barnes uses the game as a means of revealing social assumptions. The privileged aristocrats enjoy…
Melon by Julian Barnes – Themes
Aristocracy “Melon” focuses on a particular member of the English aristocracy, showing different facets of him over the course of years, highlighting the different perspectives that one can have as a member of the ruling class. When he is young, he is not the master of his world but instead is watched over by his…
Melon by Julian Barnes – Characters
William Bedster Bedster appears in this story as an example of the flexibility of the English class system: at one time the butler to the Earl of Tankerville, Bedster is described as having been able to rise in society to become a publican, or tavern manager, in Chelsea. Samuel Dobson Dobson is the second under-gardener…
Melon by Julian Barnes – Summary
First Section The first section of “Melon” is presented as a letter that a young British nobleman, Hamilton Lindsay, writes to his cousin Evelina, in 1774. Lindsay is traveling in Europe and is on his way to Rome with his tutor, Mr. Hawkins, when, at Evelina’s suggestion, they change direction and stop at Montpelier, a…