The Japanese Quince

“As Mr. Nilson, well known in the City, opened the window of his dressing-room on Campden Hill, he experienced a peculiar sweetish sensation in the back of his throat, and a feeling of emptiness just under his fifth rib.”

The opening sentence of the story is concentrated and provides a conceptual map for what follows. Nilson’s morning moves from the known to the unknown, mirroring how the first sentence moves from specifics to generalities. The simple act of opening the window indicates a willingness to step out and engage the world and try to fill the “emptiness” that he feels inside. The sensation is a paradox. On one hand, it causes him concern and discomfort; on the other, it is described as “sweetish.” This dual quality of the unknown—something both troubling and attractive—defines the Emotional Repression and Inhibition that Nilson faces in the story.

“Resuming some meditations on the price of Tintos, he took up an ivory-backed hand-glass and scrutinised his face.”

The careful diction in this sentence invites the reader to reflect on how Nilson views the world. He “meditates” on stock prices, which suggests that the world of money is a kind of spiritual replacement for him. The reference to “Tintos” is obscure, but it almost certainly refers to stock in a mining company, as seen in a quote from a contemporary journal, published just two years after “The Japanese Quince”: “Tintos have been a good market, and some big transactions have been done.