A DILL PICKLE

Katherine Mansfield
Questions for discussion
1. How’s the man described? (His appearance, His social status, His
financial situation, His personalities)
2. How is Vera’s described?
3. Why does the man ask Vera but doesn’t wait for the answer?
4. Show the affection of Vera for the man and that of the man for Vera?
5. Why does Vera leave without his acknowledgement?
6. What are the problems in their relationship?
7. What do you think about the man’s feelings and actions at the end of
the story?
8. Explain the symbol of the gloves and A Dill Pickle.
• Plot summary
• The short story A Dill Pickle by Katherine Mansfield is a wonderful example
of a story with an ironic twist.
• Techniques: + Stream of consciousness: singular third-person limited point
of view
+ Flashback
• The two main characters: Vera and the unnamed man
• A dill pickle
- Appeals to you with attractive colors: greenish jar, red chili. . But once you
open the jar, one is enough and you won't finish the whole jar, which
implies that the meeting will not bring Vera full satisfaction.
- Symbol of their spicy yet sour relationship
• Vera: quiet, confused, sensitive, weak
• The man: talkative, arrogant, egoist, rude, insensitive, self-centered
• Their different character traits  The disharmony between their ways
of communication + different attitudes towards love  the
divergence of their love
• From Vera’s point of view
 Vera's life is very dull, so the meeting serves as an appetizer just as a
stone is thrown into the motionless water and stirs up various desires
to break the dull life of Vera.
• From the man's point of view:
In his life, Vera is just an appetizer, not a main course, meaning she is
not a person that the man would like to spend the whole life with. She
only makes his dull life a little colorful.
Themes
1. The conflict between Love and Disillusionment (Feelings of loneliness
and disillusionment of the women)

2. Lost opportunities –Lost love

3. Idealism and reality

4. Inability to feel or express love

5. Pessimism of modern life