By Borden Deal

Taste of Melon

Barkin, Cali, Ananya, Grace,

Shayaan & Saeed
Context
 Historical and Cultural Context - Great Depression
>Exact date this story is written in is unknown however it is known that. This highly relates
to Borden because his
>Since he was born in 1922, he went through the ‘Great Depression’ father was a cotton
which is said to be the worst economic downturn of the history due to farmer but lost his land
stock market crash in oct. 1929. After that, consumer spending and when the cotton prices
fell.
investment dropped which caused:
And when
1- Decline in industrial Output 2- Decrease in Employment Rates
Roosevelt started the
‘rehabilitation
- It lasted from 1929- 1939.
programme’, his family
travelled to a communal
>By 1933;
farm sponsored by the
government.
-Almost half of American Banks had failed - 15 million unemployed
people
The Problem in Society Shown By the Book
> Problem: Teenager boys in the countrysides would steal the farmer’s melons,
and it would be okay to do so but stealing the seed melon was the thing they did
wrong because the farmer depended on that seed melon to grow next year's
crops.

This tradition being okay is supported when the narrator says: “ Everybody
expected to lose a certain quantity of their watermelons to terrapins and a certain
quantity to boys. It wasn’t considered stealing to sneak into a man’s melon patch and
judiciously borrow a sample of his raisings.”

The short story proves that stealing such a precious thing (seed melon) can be
harmful by showing that Mrs. Will’s needed that so that people would visit her house for
a slice of it and she would not be alone anymore but also the short story shows that if
Mr. Will does not have the seed melon, he cannot grow next year’s crops.
Symbolism
Symbolism
In the story “A Taste of Melon”, Borden Deal uses numerous literary tools and devices
in order to give the reader a deeper insight into the story. One literary tool that is most
actively used throughout the text, is symbolism. The author craft’s the text in order to
portray the melon as the protagonists “ticket” to being accepted into society. This, can
be linked to the evident theme of boyhood and friendship the writer in the story craves
for. An instance where we can see his determination to being accepted into society,
can be seen in the line “There was a moment of respectful silence. Even for me.” The
use of the full stop after the first part of the quote, is placed for effect. It depicts the
importance of the “mission” he was about to undertake, and how it left his friends in
awe. The second part of the quote “Even for me.”, can be analyzed to show how
crucial it is for him to succeed, but also gives the audience an insight as to how he
was not fully accepted into his social group. Deal guides most conservations to land
up talking about the watermelon, as it plays a critical role in the story. It symbolizes
the boy’s struggle.
Coming of
Age Theme
Coming of Age Themes
Ignorance to knowledge: At the start of the story, the protagonist
and his friends think that the scary Mr. Wills was protective of his
melons because he was overly obsessed with growing them. When
the protagonist steals the melon, he finds out that Mr. Wills was only
trying to please his wife. In this manner, he learns not to be quick to
judge as people are not always what they seem to be on the outside.
This applies to coming of age as adolescence is where most children
learn more about what occurs around them and understand it better.

Immature responses to Mature responses: We see this theme

when the boy steals the melon, he does it to prove himself to his
group of friends, as he doesn’t fit in yet. However, as the story
progresses and his theft is discovered, the boy starts to feel guilty
and tries to make amends for his mistake. He returns to the
swimming hole for the seeds and then helps Mr. Wills grow his
melons for the next year.
Conflict
Conflict
Internal Conflict:
The inner conflict of the story “The Taste Of
Watermelon” is when the main character stole
the watermelon. Right after the boys ate their
stolen watermelon, the main character started to
feel remorse for his actions. After the main
character went home and saw the effect that the
missing watermelon had on Mr. Wills, he went
back to get the seeds from the discarded
watermelon to give back to Mr. Wills. At first the
main character is really excited for having stolen
what nobody else could but he almost
immediately felt regret for having done so.
External Conflict:
The external conflict of this story is when the
main character is stealing the watermelon. He
has to sneak past Mr. Wills and his (rocksalt
filled) gun to get to the watermelon in the middle
of the field. There was the worry that Mr. Wills
would shoot him is he was seen trying to steal
from him especially with the stories going
around that the gun was filled with real bullets
and not rocksalt. The external conflict was the
danger of dying while stealing the watermelon
until the main character got away safe with it.
 Conflict Plot Graph
Inner Conflict External Conflict

Going to get Getting

the seeds the
from the melon in
melon Crawling the field
to get to
Deciding to the Rolling
Seeing Mr. melon the
work with
Wills upset Going to Mr. melon
Mr. Wills to
Wills to give make up for Wanting the to the
Wanting the creek
him the seeds the melon watermelon
Watermelon

Eating
the
melon
with his
friends
Setting
Setting
The main setting that is taken in place of ‘The taste of
watermelon’ by Borden Deal is a farming community. This
story takes place as the protagonist is 16 years of age. He
displays himself as a brave kid who would do anything to
prove to his friends that he can be ‘cool’ and fit in. The
specific words that are used in the short story to describe
and influence our perception of setting is summer, fields,
barn, porch, neighborhood, earth, house, creek bank, the
willows, swimming hole and melon patch. The mood of the
setting before he steals the melon is very calm, but quickly
switches to tense after he steals the melon due to his
conscience haunting him and the guilt he feels. The melon
patch setting is significant and symbolizes that the location
of the story is taken place in southern United states due to
the farmers. It also helps emphasise the theme of the
teenager tradition of stealing melons.
Video
https://youtu.be/YM06rNR46h0