# Witches’ Loaves explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by O. Henry.

## What happens

Miss Martha Meacham, a lonely baker with a sympathetic heart, takes a special interest in a regular customer she believes to be a poor artist. She secretly inserts butter into his stale bread loaves as a kind gesture, only to discover that he is actually an architectural draftsman who uses stale bread to erase pencil lines from his drawings. Her well-intentioned act ruins his three-month work on a city hall plan, leading to a confrontation.

## Themes in this chapter

### Deception and Appearance vs. Reality

Miss Martha deceives herself about the customer's identity and intentions, and her secret butter insertion is a well-meaning deception that backfires.

### Love and Romance

Miss Martha's romantic daydreams about the customer, imagining a future together, drive her actions.

### Humor and Irony

The ironic twist that her kind gesture destroys his work, and the dramatic confrontation, provide dark humor.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The narrator describes Miss Martha's thoughts and actions, including her daydreams and the final confrontation.

### Miss Alice

Miss Martha Meacham, the protagonist who runs the bakery and tries to help the man she believes is an artist.

### Blumberger

The regular customer who buys stale bread; he is actually an architectural draftsman, not an artist.

## Key lines

> Miss Martha was forty, her bankbook showed a credit of two thousand dollars, and she possessed two false teeth and a sympathetic heart.

Miss Martha is a forty-year-old woman with savings of two thousand dollars, false teeth, and a kind nature.

_Establishes Miss Martha's character and situation._

> He always bought two loaves of stale bread. Fresh bread was five cents a loaf. Stale ones were two for five.

He consistently purchased two stale loaves for five cents, while fresh ones cost five cents each.

_Highlights the customer's frugality and Miss Martha's assumption about his poverty._

> 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.

Miss Martha cut into the stale loaves, added butter, and closed them up.

_The pivotal action that leads to the story's climax._

> 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.

He spent three months on a city hall design for a contest, using stale bread to erase pencil marks after inking.

_Reveals the true purpose of the stale bread and the consequence of Miss Martha's action._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/witches-loaves
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters