Textual Analysis of the Story by John Updike "The Taste of Metal"

(1) The taste of metal (2) Metal, strictly, has no taste; (3) its presence in the mouth is felt as disciplinary, as No spoken to other tastes. (4) When Richard Maple, after thirty years (5) of twinges, jagged edges, and occasional extractions, (6) had all his remaining molars capped and bridges shaped across (7) the gold felt chilly to his cheeks and (8) its regularity masked holes and roughnessness that had been a kind of mirror wherein his tongue had known itself.

(1) The taste of metal
(a) The title serves as an indicator to a literary work.
(b) The notion of metal makes to think about something harsh, probably, in one’s mouth, since taste may not be felt otherwise. It brings connotations with war stories or thrillers with guns put in the mouth of the enemy. But, the title does not state the discourse and the reader has to guess. Thus, the phrase performs the function of the title – interests the potential readers in reading.…