The Irony of The Dill Pickle

The story begins with Vera as “after six years, saw him again. He was seated at one of those little bamboo tables decorated with a Japanese vase of paper daffodils.” She recognized him immediately by the “‘special’ way he was peeling his orange.” She was disappointed by his frown when he looked up at her; she believed that “He didn’t know her!” From

It appeared to confuse Vera a bit when she stopped to question if there was “a hint of mockery in his voice”. She could not imagine that this man whom had so fancied her could possibly mock her now. She seemed to ignore this warning as she sat with him a while longer. She continued to play into the feelings that she had now, remembering his dog “called Bouson” that he could not recall himself.

Suddenly years later, Vera finds herself “as alone as ever” and at the table with a man that just remembered how much he had loved her. Suddenly “He was certainly far better looking than he had been then.” The man seems to take much pleasure in advising Vera of all the dreams he has fulfilled without her. “Ah, when I was in Russia…” “Have you forgotten how we used to talk of going there?” Vera’s interest is peaked even more as he rattles off a long list of countries he has been too “Spain, Corsica, Siberia, Russia, Egypt.” And she smiled gently to him and replied, “How I envy you."

Some topics in this essay:
Katherine Mansfield, Russia Egypt”, Kew Gardens, Suddenly Vera, Kew Gardens”, ,