One Morning in June Analysis

Mavis Gallant skillfully equips literary elements and techniques, including hyperbole, symbolism, imagery, and metaphors when describing Mike’s experience with art in his short story “One Morning in June,” to convey her protagonist's nuanced experience studying painting.  

As the story begins, the reader is introduced to Mike, a young American pressured by his family and mentor to come to Paris so as to explore his talent in art. Gallant captures this pressure with the phrase, “the words ‘art’ and ‘Paris’ were unbreakably joined in [Mike’s] family’s imagination.” The use of  hyperbole in this statement when referring to art and Paris being “unbreakably joined” in Mike’s family’s minds emphasizes Mike’s intense past experiences in art, further complicated through his family’s entanglement and expectations with his studies. The term “unbreakable” also brings with it a sense of permanence to Mike’s artistic education. Through this phrase, Gallant not only suggests that Mike shares a complicated past with art and his family’s expectations, but also suggests that unless he pursued this expectation, it would never go away. Additionally, Gallant utilizes metaphorical language when comparing Mike’s introduction to art in Paris to “exposing someone to a case of measles and watching for spots to break out.” Such a negative comparison reveals Mike’s art exposure as an unpleasant experience rather than a joyful one. Measles is a disease, and when compared with Mike’s artistic endeavors, suggests that his creative studies and his family’s anticipation of them will follow him around, as would a disease, unless he goes to Paris to showcase his talent in art. Gallant’s purposeful use of these statements thus indicates that Mike’s experience studying painting is more complex than it initially appears. 

The narrative progresses to Mike’s first three weeks in Paris, standing in “the wrong queue at the Beaux-Arts” before giving up entirely. Mike’s mistake standing in the wrong line at the Beaux-Arts, as well as his admission of defeat merely three weeks into his art education, is a symbol for his entire art career characterized by trial and failure. By now, Mike’s indecisiveness towards choosing art as his career is evident. Although he certainly exhibits talent in art, as affirmed by his high school art teacher, his willingness to give up due to minor mistakes showcases his conflicted attitude and complicated experience studying painting. Hence, Mike’s complex experience and struggle in the pursuit of his studies pertaining to painting is highlighted through a symbolic view of his first three weeks in Paris. Additionally, Gallant’s description of Mike’s drawings: large, askew, and empty of people, symbolizes a closer look at Mike’s inability to draw life into his art. His paintings, barren and devoid of life, reflect his feelings towards his studies and experiences in creating artworks. Due to Mike’s own lackluster experience, his tendency to avoid opportunities, and his lack of enthusiasm, Gallant symbolically portrays Mike’s paintings as empty. 

Finally, Mike begins to show promise in his art. Through Mr. Chitterley’s instruction and his continuous effort, Mike now is beginning to believe in the creation of his paintings. However, his past doubts are still reflected through vivid imagery of Paris’ winter season, attributed to the gray, sunless, and rainy descriptions of the weather. Nevertheless, Mike’s contentment with his paintings still shines through, symbolically evident through his discovery that Paris’ “gray contained every shade in a beam of light.” This discovery not only is applicable in a literal sense but is a symbolic description of Mike’s findings within his art and his newfound belief in himself. Through the uncertainty and anxiety, characterized by Paris’ gray and emptiness, Mike found hope and purpose in art under Mr. Chitterley’s guidance. Gallant’s application of Paris’ rainy season is vivid imagery that mirrors this period of academic art experimentation colored by apprehension, but also faith. Regardless, Mike’s academic art journey is not over. His inability to reproduce the effect of color in Paris’ gray winter is symbolic of his need for further exploration within his art. Additionally, his unfinished artistic voyage is further emblematically hinted at when Gallant reveals Mike’s attitude toward art as a career, “..is it wasting time for me to paint, paint, paint?’” Though Mike has grown tremendously from his original position in his study of art, he still is unable to truly comprehend the impact of painting on his life and the benefit of it in his career. Mike’s opinion of painting as a potential waste of time holds him back from achieving his true potential and identifies his complex experience studying painting. Eventually, Mike agrees to travel to the country and paint, under Mr. Chitterley’s advice. His final opinion regarding painting states “Mike, for want of a better thought, or even a contrastive one, took the train there a day later.” This phrase is powerful as it indicates that Mike’s journey studying painting is not over. Although he shares many doubts and is still anxious about his life as a painter, he maintains hope in his future as an artist. Likewise, the description of Menton, Mike’s future destination where he will continue his pursuit of art, is positive and bright, a place Mr. Chitterley recalls as a “paradise of lemon ice and sunshine.” Menton’s description is symbolic of Mike’s future: a paradise where he will chase his future as a painter. Furthermore, optimism and faith is emblematically highlighted through the positive connotations of this location. The sunshine serves as a symbol of hope, a contrast to the grayness of the Paris winter. As such, Menton is evidently seen as a place for Mike to reinvent himself as a painter and continue his artistic journey in a brighter light, in a literal and figurative sense. 

Overall, through literary elements and techniques such as hyperbole, imagery, symbolism, and metaphors, Gallant purposefully conveys Mike’s complex journey studying painting, characterized by doubt and uncertainty, but also hope and future potential.