Witches' Loaves

Witches' Loaves is written by O.Henry. And here follows the text~

Text

Miss Martha Meacham kept the little bakery on the corner (the one where you go up three steps, and the bell tinkles when you open the door).

Miss Martha was forty, her bank-book showed a credit of two thousand dollars, and she possessed two false teeth and a sympathetic heart. Many people have married whose chances to do so were much inferior to Miss Martha's.


Two or three times a week a customer came in in whom she began to take an interest. He was a middle-aged man, wearing spectacles and a brown beard trimmed to a careful point.

He spoke English with a strong German accent. His clothes were worn and darned in places, and wrinkled and baggy in others. But he looked neat, and had very good manners.

He always bought two loaves of stale bread. Fresh bread was five cents a loaf. Stale ones were two for five. Never did he call for anything but stale bread.

Once Miss Martha saw a red and brown stain on his fingers. She was sure then that he was an artist and very poor. No doubt he lived in a garret, where he painted pictures and ate stale bread and thought of the good things to eat in Miss Martha's bakery.

Often when Miss Martha sat down to her chops and light rolls and jam and tea she would sigh, and wish that the gentle-mannered artist might share her tasty meal instead of eating his dry crust in that draughty attic. Miss Martha's heart, as you have been told, was a sympathetic one.



In order to test her theory as to his occupation, she brought from her room one day a painting that she had bought at a sale, and set it against the shelves behind the bread counter.

It was a Venetian scene. A splendid marble palazzio (so it said on the picture) stood in the foreground -- or rather forewater. For the rest there were gondolas (with the lady trailing her hand in the water), clouds, sky, and chiaro-oscuro in plenty. No artist could fail to notice it.

Two days afterward the customer came in.

"Two loafs of stale bread, if you blease.

"You haf here a fine bicture, madame," he said while she was wrapping up the bread.

"Yes?" says Miss Martha, reveling in her own cunning. "I do so admire art and" (no, it would not do to say "artists" thus early) "and paintings," she substituted. "You think it is a good picture?"

"Der balance," said the customer, is not in good drawing. Der bairspective of it is not true. Goot morning, madame."

He took his bread, bowed, and hurried out.

Yes, he must be an artist. Miss Martha took the picture back to her room.

How gentle and kindly his eyes shone behind his spectacles! What a broad brow he had! To be able to judge perspective at a glance -- and to live on stale bread! But genius often has to struggle before it is recognized.

What a thing it would be for art and perspective if genius were backed by two thousand dollars in bank, a bakery, and a sympathetic heart to -- But these were day-dreams, Miss Martha.



Often now when he came he would chat for a while across the showcase. He seemed to crave Miss Martha's cheerful words.

He kept on buying stale bread. Never a cake, never a pie, never one of her delicious Sally Lunns.

She thought he began to look thinner and discouraged. Her heart ached to add something good to eat to his meagre purchase, but her courage failed at the act. She did not dare affront him. She knew the pride of artists.

Miss Martha took to wearing her blue-dotted silk waist behind the counter. In the back room she cooked a mysterious compound of quince seeds and borax. Ever so many people use it for the complexion.

One day the customer came in as usual, laid his nickel on the showcase, and called for his stale loaves. While Miss Martha was reaching for them there was a great tooting and clanging, and a fire-engine came lumbering past.

The customer hurried to the door to look, as any one will. Suddenly inspired, Miss Martha seized the opportunity.

On the bottom shelf behind the counter was a pound of fresh butter that the dairyman had left ten minutes before. With a bread knife Miss Martha made a deep slash in each of the stale loaves, inserted a generous quantity of butter, and pressed the loaves tight again.

When the customer turned once more she was tying the paper around them.

When he had gone, after an unusually pleasant little chat, Miss Martha smiled to herself, but not without a slight fluttering of the heart.

Had she been too bold? Would he take offense? But surely not. There was no language of edibles. Butter was no emblem of unmaidenly forwardness.

For a long time that day her mind dwelt on the subject. She imagined the scene when he should discover her little deception.

He would lay down his brushes and palette. There would stand his easel with the picture he was painting in which the perspective was beyond criticism.

He would prepare for his luncheon of dry bread and water. He would slice into a loaf -- ah!

Miss Martha blushed. Would he think of the hand that placed it there as he ate? Would he --

The front door bell jangled viciously. Somebody was coming in, making a great deal of noise.

Miss Martha hurried to the front. Two men were there. One was a young man smoking a pipe -- a man she had never seen before. The other was her artist.

His face was very red, his hat was on the back of his head, his hair was wildly rumpled. He clinched his two fists and shook them ferociously at Miss Martha. At Miss Martha.

"Dummkopf!" he shouted with extreme loudness; and then "Tausendonfer!" or something like it in German.

The young man tried to draw him away.

"I vill not go," he said angrily, "else I shall told her."

He made a bass drum of Miss Martha's counter.

"You haf shpoilt me," he cried, his blue eyes blazing behind his spectacles. "I vill tell you. You vas von meddingsome old cat!"

Miss Martha leaned weakly against the shelves and laid one hand on her blue-dotted silk waist. The young man took the other by the collar.

"Come on," he said, "you've said enough." He dragged the angry one out at the door to the sidewalk, and then came back.

"Guess you ought to be told, ma'am," he said, "what the row is about. That's Blumberger. He's an architectural draftsman. I work in the same office with him.

"He's been working hard for three months drawing a plan for a new city hall. It was a prize competition. He finished inking the lines yesterday. You know, a draftsman always makes his drawing in pencil first. When it's done he rubs out the pencil lines with handfuls of stale bread crumbs. That's better than India rubber.

"Blumberger's been buying the bread here. Well, to-day -- well, you know, ma'am, that butter isn't -- well, Blumberger's plan isn't good for anything now except to cut up into railroad sandwiches."


Miss Martha went into the back room. She took off the blue-dotted silk waist and put on the old brown serge she used to wear. Then she poured the quince seed and borax mixture out of the window into the ash can.

Exploration

Miss Martha, our protagonist in this story, owns a small bakery. She is middle-aged and single, but still holds out some hope for a love connection. When a man with a German accent comes in two or three times a week, Martha begins to think of him as a possibility. Strangely, he always asks for two loaves of stale bread.

Martha begins to think about the gentleman and how to find out more about him. Noticing his stained fingers, she assumes he is an artist, so she hangs up a painting for him to notice and discuss. She takes to dressing up for his regular appearances and mixes up a face cream formula to look her prettiest.

The man does talk about the painting briefly but otherwise seems to take no notice of poor Miss Martha's fervent efforts to get his attention and interest. If you have ever had this experience of having a romantic interest ignore you, you can likely sympathize with Miss Martha's frustration.


Finally, she resorts to food to please him and show him how she cares. If you have been wondering about the title, knowing that there are no witches in the story, there may be a clue. Think of how many times witches use food to entice victims in fairy tales: Snow White and the poison apple, Hansel and Gretel and the Candy House, and others as well. Perhaps O. Henry wanted us to think of Miss Martha as luring the man in by providing him with a treat.

• The Surprising Ending:-

After Martha sneaks fresh butter into the man's loaves as a present from her, she has high hopes that this gesture will win him over. Soon the German man and a younger man come in the bakery.

The artist is furious at Miss Martha, much to her surprise. He pounds angrily on the bakery counter, shouting, '' 'You haf shpoilt me,' he cried, his blue eyes blazing behind his spectacles. 'I vill tell you. You vas von meddingsome old cat!'''

The younger man explains that he works in the same architectural office as the older man. Her 'artist' was actually an architectural draftsman, who had been working for months on an entry for a contest to design a new city hall. He says, ''You know, a draftsman always makes his drawing in pencil first. When it's done he rubs out the pencil lines with handfuls of stale bread crumbs.''

Analysis

In Witches’ Loaves by O. Henry we have the theme of loneliness, escape independence, connection, desperation, love, defeat, and embarrassment. Taken from his Selected Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story, it becomes clear to the reader that Henry may be exploring the theme of loneliness. Martha seems to live and work on her own with her only engagement with others being through her bakery shop. This may be important as it suggests that Martha is lonely. Something that becomes clearer to the reader when Martha begins to take a liking to Blumberger. What is interesting about Martha’s liking of Blumberger is that she makes the assumption that he is an artist because he makes an opinion on a painting that Martha leaves on one of the shelves of the shop. Also, Martha notices a red and brown stain on Blumberger’s fingers which she assumes is paint. If anything both these assumptions suggests to the reader that Martha may be desperate for Blumberger to be an artist. It is as though Martha romanticizes those who paint for a living. Which further suggests how lonely Martha may be.  She also throughout the story constantly thinks about Blumberger and no other customer. Her aspirations for love appear to be pinned upon Blumberger. However later in the story, the reader will discover that Martha has been somewhat misguided.

The fact that Martha is also nervous about giving Blumberger anything but the stale bread is also interesting. Though her heart tells her to do more for him her head, on the other hand, tells her to just provide Blumberger with the stale bread. This may be significant as Henry may be highlighting to the reader the fact that women at the time the story was written were not necessarily supposed to take the first step when it came to a relationship with a man. Women had a role to play and that role involved them being seen and not heard. The fact that Martha does take the first step and adds the butter to the stale bread suggests that Martha may be somewhat independent of society’s views on the role and place of a woman. Also, Martha owns her own business which may be important as again this would highlight that Martha is independent of others. She is her own boss. Though there is still no disputing that Martha is lonely and it is this loneliness that acts as the trigger for Martha to put the butter in the stale bread.

There is also a sense that Martha is passionate about pursuing a relationship with Blumberger. Not only because he ticks the right box, or so Martha thinks, when it comes to his occupation. But Martha also knows that she is longing to escape from the loneliness that she feels. Martha, in reality, is living a life in whereby she feels defeated. On the surface, things may appear to be positive for Martha. She is her own boss. Yet inside she longs for the love that comes from being in a relationship with a man. It is as though Martha is driven towards Blumberger who is not described in a flattering light in the story. Though Martha doesn’t appear to be too concerned about Blumberger’s physical attractiveness. This may be important as Martha may also be old enough to see past an individual’s physical attractiveness and fall in love with an individual’s mind instead. Neither Martha nor Blumberger have youth on their side. Despite all of this Martha still manages to connect with Blumberger. Though the reality is that the connection is one-sided.


The end of the story is also interesting as Henry appears to be further exploring the theme of defeat. When Martha discovers that she has misunderstood Blumberger she retreats back into her shell. Something that is noticeable by the fact that Martha discards the homemade cosmetics she had been using. No longer is it Martha’s goal to attract Blumberger. She realizes that she has made a mistake and rather than moving on progressively the defeat she encounters leads to her being embarrassed. Which may suggest to the reader that Martha is to remain alone. Her assumptions mislead her and rather than forgiving herself and picking herself up. Martha takes Blumberger’s criticism of her to heart. This may be significant as the reality is Blumberger is really a stranger to Martha and she should not allow his ill will towards her for an innocent mistake affect her permanently. However, the reader is left in no doubt that Martha is to live her life as she has always been living it, alone. Any aspirations she had of courtship with Blumberger have been destroyed due to his reaction to Martha’s innocent generosity. Though Martha may be an independent woman she cannot overcome what has happened. Not only does her embarrassment seclude her from others and any other potential courtship but Martha’s confidence has also been shattered.