Pie

Sarah Weeks

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2011

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapter 11-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

A New Pie With Every Chapter

Weeks precedes each chapter with the motif of an actual pie recipe along with preparation instructions. At the conclusion of the narrative, she gives credit to the 14 individuals who contributed these recipes. Polly offers handwritten asides about the specific pies after each recipe, for instance, noting which one is good enough to “eat off of the floor” (182). Subtly, the handwritten personal notes at the bottom of each recipe refer to story elements during the narrative and often set the stage for events occurring in the chapter. For instance, before Chapter 1, in which Polly dies, she lists her apple pie as her medical doctor’s favorite. Prior to Chapter 8, in which Alice and Charlie discover that their principal is an obsessive bodybuilder, the author includes a lemon chess pie recipe, observing that it is Miss Gurke’s favorite. The inclusion of the recipes before each chapter implies that Polly possesses profound insight into her fellow Ipswitch citizens. For example, Polly willed the pie shop itself to her minister, Rev. Flowers. She precedes Chapter 5 with the recipe for sour cherry pie, the minister’s favorite. In this chapter, someone trashes the minister’s newly acquired building, so the sour cherry recipe serves as a bittersweet consolation.

Incorrect Assumptions

Throughout the narrative, characters make a series of incorrect assumptions, each of which leads to unproductive outcomes and frustration as the characters realize their mistakes. When Ruth learns she was not mentioned in her sister’s will, she assumes that Polly hated her. Only at the end of the novel does she discover a special arrangement Polly made with Lardo shortening that will provide a lifelong income for her family. Ruth also assumes that, since her sister was so good at making delicious pies, baking pies must not be that difficult. Her first two attempts at baking turn out so horribly that no one will eat them. When nothing of value seems to be missing from Polly’s ransacked apartment and shop, Police Chief Decker assumes that the break-in came from vandalizing teenagers, just as he assumes that Lardo’s drunken behavior comes from misbehaving teens. In both cases, Alice grasps the real motives and eventually the culprit. Upon learning that Polly left her piecrust recipe to Lardo, Sylvia assumes that the recipe is somehow tattooed on the cat’s distended stomach, only to discover after catnapping the feline—and turning it into her mortal enemy—that it is not present.

Although an observant sleuth, Alice also makes her share of false assumptions. At a low point for her, she castigates herself for assuming someone catnapped Lardo when she likely left her bedroom window open, for harshly condemning Charlie for not helping her when, in fact, he turned out to be completely loyal, and for incorrectly assuming that Miss Gurke stole Polly’s store key and catnapped Lardo. Alice quickly learns, as her aunt advised her, to trust her hunches, which allows her to bait a trap for the true criminal. This motif warns against prematurely judging the motives and actions of others. Also, while one’s insight may be incorrect, Weeks implies, it is important to test one’s hunches because they may be completely accurate.

Feminist Yearnings

Another motif is that, apart from Charlie, all the interesting, well-developed characters in the narrative are girls and women. The author demonstrates awareness that she is writing about an extremely traditional era in which women found their cultural roles defined and limited. Following this norm, the mothers of the three tweens are all stay-at-home moms. Two adult women escape this expected role. One is Miss Gurke, the principal. She lives in a time, however, when many school systems welcomed and even expected educators to be single so as to concentrate on the system’s children rather than their own. The other is Polly, who never had children, married, or worked outside the home. While the citizens of Ipswitch adore Polly, extending virtual sainthood to her, most view her as a loveable eccentric and not a role model.

The post-war era, which featured many women moving from the workforce back into domestic roles, was also a time of fledgling feminism. Weeks describes four women who challenge traditional models. While she maintains strict secrecy, Miss Gurke has a novel idea of womanhood that flies in the face of Miss America. Melanie, the driving force behind her husband’s political career, eventually steps out of her husband’s shadow and asserts herself as Ipswitch’s mayor. The author makes clear that Polly, even if she had not been as remarkably successful as she was, would never subscribe to social norms. The fourth person to assert herself as differentiated from typical roles is Alice. The Epilogue reveals that she, like her aunt, never had children or married, but remains the lifelong friend of Charlie, who marries Nora and has five children.