Taste Of Wills Character Analysis

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A Taste of Mr.Wills Mr. Wills, from the short story “The Taste of Melon”, is a main character who is resolute, commanding, explosive, and understanding. A tall, intimidating man in appearance, he is also a father to Willadean and husband to Mrs. Wills. But, what differentiates him from other characters is the resoluteness embedded in his personality. For example, even though people came from all over to see his seed melon, he “wouldn’t let them go into the melon patch.” Also, “When he plowed his fields, you could hear him yelling for a mile.” This represents the firm determination Mr. Wills had to have in order to produce and protect his treasured melons. Next, we see that this man was quite a commanding person. For instance, the narrator tells us, “The idea of having him [Mr. Wills] directly and immediately angry at one of us was enough to shrivel the soul.” In addition, he threw the protagonist’s…show more content…
This makes Mr. Wills commanding because he was able to manipulate his power in many different ways, from intimidating others with his shotgun, to consciously hitting them to the ground. Furthermore, Mr. Wills was explosive too. This personality trait is evident when he impulsively destroyed the remaining watermelons in the patch, and also when he revealed, “Mrs. Wills has been poorly all the spring, and she dearly loves the taste of melon.” Since Mr. Wills was typically reserved in dialogue, these emotional and physical outbursts indicate a real explosiveness within him. Lastly, Mr. Wills shows that he is understanding when he says, “And my sick wife hungered for the taste of that melon,” as well as, “I’m about as ashamed of myself last night as you are of yourself.” These words symbolize both his care for Mrs. Wills, and the understanding he had for the narrator’s apology.
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