The Multiple Faces of Aging Into Wisdom in Julian Barnes's The Lemon Table

Abstract

In The Lemon Table, published in 2004, Barnes introduces 11 short stories with old characters as their main protagonists, a few of them actually close to death. It is precisely their age together with their physical frailty, in most cases, that makes the protagonists reflect on wisdom; that is, what life has taught them and to what extent they can actually contribute to pass on to their knowledge to future generations. Neither Barnes nor the characters within his short stories believe in a straightforward connection between old age and serenity, with wisdom as its ultimate result. On the contrary, each of the protagonists allows the reader to glimpse into his or her own experience of aging and the ways in which they create meaning for their lives at the same time as they try to come to terms with the increasing vulnerability and dependence of their bodies.

Keywords: Aging; Contemporary British fiction; Death; Old age; Short stories; Wisdom.