The House with the Grape-vine by H. E. Bates
"The House with the Grape-vine" by H. E. Bates is a short story that explores themes of nostalgia, idealization, and the contrast between childhood innocence and adult disillusionment. Set in an industrial town in England, the narrative follows a young boy who is captivated by his father's recollections of a time when their environment was lush with grapevines and country charm. The father’s fond memories of working in a rural farmhouse clash with his actual feelings of displeasure about the experience, which he does not fully disclose to his son.
As the boy imagines a romanticized version of rural life—complete with stables and gardens—he remains unaware of the complexities behind his father's experiences. His eagerness leads him to visit the farmhouse, where he encounters a hostile old woman who dismisses his quest for grapes, further complicating his understanding of the past. The story poignantly illustrates the gap between the idyllic dreams of youth and the often harsher realities of adult life, leaving the boy's innocence intact but tinged with unanswered questions. Through this narrative, Bates invites readers to reflect on the nature of memory and the ways personal history can shape one's perception of the past.
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The House with the Grape-vine by H. E. Bates
First published: 1959
Type of plot: Domestic realism
Time of work: The 1950's
Locale: England
Principal Characters:
The small boy , a lover of the natural splendor of England's pastThe father , the parent who instills this love in the boyThe old woman , the resident of the house with the grapevine
The Story
A small boy growing up in a factory town in England enjoys hearing his father describe what the place was like before it became industrialized. The boy is fascinated to learn that most of the older houses were once covered by grapevines, on which small, dark grapes grew. That his father, when he was eight, worked in a grapevine-covered farmhouse half the day while going to school only part-time is especially appealing. The boy imagines such a life as ideal, but his father reveals that he hated working there, although he will not explain why. The romantic aspects of such a life, however, obscure any possible deficiencies for the boy: "How marvellous it must have been . . . to have stables and a pigeon-cote in the yard instead of only a water-barrel and a slat fence where people beat their mats. What days they must have been—he simply couldn't believe his father hadn't liked them."
The boy waits eagerly for three months before he can go to the farmhouse to see and taste the ripened grapes. When he arrives, an old woman with "a long face like a parsnip that had a few suspended hairy roots hanging from the chin" grabs him and accuses him of coming to steal apples. When he says he is after grapes, she denies ever having any and threatens to have him arrested. The boy breaks away and runs home. He never tells his father about going to the farmhouse or asks him again why he had been unhappy working there. He continues, however, to believe in the story of the grapevine.