Short Story With analysis

 

Nama : Reihanesa Putri Nur Nabila

NIM : 20.03.52.0026

 

Springtime a la Carte

By O. Henry

 Author : O henry

Title : Springtime a la carte 

Character : Sarah and walters

Genre : Love 

Short story 

Spring Time is one such story that has a girl typist and a young farmer as the two protagonists.

Sarah is a young girl living in New York. With her rudimentary typing skill, she struggles to make a living in New York. A decent well-paying job in New York has eluded her. She does some freelance typing job here and there to eke out a living. She lives in a red brick low-rent dormitory.

Close to the dormitory, there is the Schulenberg’s restaurant. She eats there regularly. The restaurant has many different items in its menu. The list of items in offer changes on a day-to-day basis. There are 20 tables in the restaurant. At the start of the day, the owner decides the menu, and writes out hurriedly on the menu card for each table. Thus, he has to write the same thing twenty times. This was a tedious job done by hand. There were no computers, printers or photocopiers those days. Quite understandably, the handwriting becomes unreadable. This must have been vexing for the customers.

On one occasion, after having her dinner, Sarah hit upon an idea. She tells the owner of the Schulenberg’s restaurant that it will be a good idea to have the menu neatly typed for the convenience of the customers. The owner quickly agrees and offers to provide three meals everyday to Sarah as compensation for the menu typing she would do for the restaurant.

The deal is done. Sarah types the twenty sets of menu daily, and the meals come to her room promptly at three different times a day. Courteous waiters fetch her the food.

That year, the winter lingers, not yielding place to spring that is due. Sarah feels uncomfortable as the dormitory is cold and damp. On one day, Sarah has no outside typing job to do except the menu-typing work. She feels bored and forlorn.

One year earlier, in the summer, she had gone to the countryside on a sojourn. There she had stayed in a farm. The owner had a young son named Walters. Sarah and Walters fell in love with each other. The love blossomed, and they decided to marry a year after – in the next spring.

Now, the spring was not coming as per schedule. Winter had lingered, leaving Sarah frustrated and angry.

To make her agony worse, there is no news from Walters. Nor has any letter come from him. Sarah pines for Walters. The wait frays her patience. The lonely time proves to be very depressing for Sarah.

With Walter’s memory tormenting her ceaselessly, one day, she begins her typing work. There is an item in the menu that read Dandelion with Egg. Sarah’s heart is heavy with despondency as she settles down to start her work. Tears flow down from her eyes. She can barely hold them back. The word dandelion brought a rush of memories of Walter. He had seen dandelion – the flower of love – in Sarah’s face. Sarah is totally lost in the memory of her lover, Walters.

Inadvertently, while typing her first menu card, Sarah types the single letter ‘W’ above the word dandelion in the menu card.

At 6 o’clock that day, the waiter brings her dinner and carries away the typewritten bill of fare. When Sarah begins to eat, she sets aside, with a sigh, the dish of Dandelions with Egg. The dish plunges her mind in a whirlpool of emotions. The dandelion triggers the turmoil in her mind. She becomes too grief-stricken to eat the dish.

There was some chaotic din in Sarah’s dormitory. To cut off the noise and keep the waves of unhappy feelings at bay, she begins to read a book ‘The Cloister and the Hearth’. And then a strong voice is heard in the hall below, and Sarah rushes to her door. What a pleasant surprise it was for her! She rubs her eyes in disbelief to discover that it was Walters. They are lost in their embrace. Sarah soon gets to know that Walters has spent a whole week trying to locate her. Finally, he has spotted her. During their conversation, it emerges that her letter informing Walters about her new address had somehow not reached him.

Walter has come looking for his sweet heart.

By some coincidence, Walter has come into the same Home restaurant whose menu cards Sarah typed. While looking through the card, Walters’s eyes had fallen on the item Dandelion with Egg. And his eyes have fallen on the out-of-place letter ‘W’ on the menu card. It was the surest sign that the lovelorn Sarah had typed it. Trough the owner’s help, he lands in Sarah’s room.

For Sarah and Walters, it is a God-sent gift.

 

 

Question ?

What does the author say about the opening of a story? Do you agree with him? Comment on the opening of this story?	The author says that we should not begin our story with unimaginative sentences like, “It was a day in March”. Yes. I agree with him. Though the author says us not to begin a story with unimaginative sentences, he just does just like that to create interest in the readers of his story.
What was the job assigned to Sarah in Schulenburg’s Restaurant?	Sarah was assigned to type the menus in Schulenburg’s Restaurant. She had to provide typewritten menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
What was Schulenburg’s agreement with Sarah?	Sarah had to provide typewritten menus for the restaurant, as often as they were needed. In return she would get three means in her room.
Describe Sarah’s feelings as she thought of spring?	Sarah was very unhappy at the thought of spring. It reminded her of her lover, Walter. Spring was the time of Dandelions. These flowers were made as a crown and presented to her by Walter. They decided to marry in spring. She lost touch with Walter. So, she was sad.
Who was Walter? Describe Sarah’s feelings on him?	Walter was the son of an old farmer, Franklin. He lived in Sunnybrook Farm. He was a modern farmer. She had fallen in love with him. He made a crown of Dandelions and presented it to her. They decided to marry in spring.
How had Sarah and Walter lost touch with each other?	Sarah had moved to a new room. She wrote the address of the new room to Walter. The letter did not reach him. He tried to reach her at her old address and she was not there. This is how they lost touch with each other.
What led Sarah and Walter to meet?	Walter happened to look at the menu in Schulenburg’s Home Restaurant. He recognized the “W” key of her typewriter. Instead of typing ‘Dandelions with Hard-boiled Egg’, she mistakenly typed, “Dearest Walter, with Hard-boiled Egg’.
The story has a typical O’ Henry twist in the end. Explain.	The last line of the story provides the twist. It solves the mystery of how the lovers found each other without help from police. With this last line, the author draws the reader’s attention to the typing mistake done by Sarah.