The Taste of Metal

"The Taste of Metal" is a short story that Updike wrote when Richard and Joan are still in the civil stages of their marriage.   It takes place at a party that Richard goes to with his wife, Joan, where he sees the attractive wife (Eleanor) of his co worker.  Throughout the night, Richard is showing interest in Eleanor and not his own wife, but his wife acts sincerely and lovingly toward Richard.  This surprised me because the stories earlier in the collection did not convey the caring emotions of Joan to Richard, and I concluded that Joan only treated Richard well when she noticed the intimate connection he had with Eleanor.  This is one sign of an unhealthy relationship.  Later on in the story, Richard decides that they're going to take Eleanor home and they driving through a big snow storm.  Joan keeps telling Richard to slow down but he does the opposite and suddenly crashes into a phone pole.  A car comes over to help them and asks if they need to be driven somewhere to get assistance.  Richard offers that his wife Joan goes with the stranger to call the police and he stays back with Eleanor and they begin to intimately embrace each other until the cops come.

I really enjoyed reading this story and it had a few interesting aspects and symbols that stood out to me, one being the recurring taste of metal.  I looked up what the taste of metal in a person's mouth can mean and all I found were some illnesses that would make you have the taste of metal in your mouth.  After closely reading the parts of the story over again with this symbol, I still don't understand what it's supposed to represent, but that gross metallic taste in your mouth could be foreshadowing bad things to come in the future.  The taste of metal is a symptom for certain illnesses so in this story, it could symbolize the feeling of wrongdoing or it could be foreshadowing the messy divorce between Richard and Joan.

Another interesting part of the story that stood out to me was at the very end when the narrator says, "Never ever again would his car be new, would he chew on his own enamel, would she kick so high with her vivid long legs."  I think that the new car that Richard just wrecked is a metaphor for his wife Joan and how she is no longer a fun, new wife.  He has been married to her for a long time and he's bored and ready for some "fresh meat", like Eleanor.  In this quote, the narrator tells us that he is sulking that his wife is no longer young and will never be again and he's stuck with her.  All of the symbols throughout the story foreshadow the upcoming misery in the lives of Joan and Richard Maple.